Is Warzone changing engines with new map? Leaked image sparks rumors about Blackout 2.0

Warzone character with a sniperActivision

A leaked image of Warzone’s new map has sparked concerns from players that the battle royale might move over to the Black Ops Cold War engine, but that might not be the case.

Prior to the integration of Black Ops Cold War, Warzone players speculated on a whole range of things. How would the weapons fit in? Would Verdansk be replaced? Would there be a new engine? Pretty much everything was theorized on.

When the time came, Raven Software didn’t make many drastic changes. You can use Cold War and Modern Warfare weapons – though there have been some issues with those.

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There are still rumors about a new map set in the Ural Mountains, and a new leaked image has sparked fears that the game could be ditching its current engine for the Black Ops Cold War one.

Warzone's Ural Mountains mapActivision
A new Warzone setting could incorporate maps from Black Ops Cold War.

Will Warzone use the Black Ops Cold War engine?

On March 12, an image of the ‘Zoo’ location in this new Warzone map did the rounds on social media. Of course, some players were happy to see a new location and more rumors about a new map.

However, more eagle-eyed players spotted the Black Ops Cold War hud, and suggested that it’s use in the image would mark the arrival of a new map.

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Yet, according to DeclassifiedCoD – a leaker who shared the image first – that won’t be the case. “Kinda sad I need to log back in to say this, the Zoo screenshot does NOT mean any type of engine switch, it is from a T9 play test build, and ATVI already confirmed an engine switch is not happening. Good bye,” they posted.

https://twitter.com/DeclassifiedCOD/status/1369981143894925313

https://twitter.com/DeclassifiedCOD/status/1370418830569275395

Additionally, the leaker noted that the image wasn’t going to be revealed, but someone else they’d shared it with decided to post it elsewhere anyway.
Their reference to Activision saying that Warzone won’t get a new engine comes from a forum post from an Activision art lead that was made just after the Cold War integration announcement.
The engine could, of course, change in a year or two, but for now, it appears as if players won’t have to worry about a change.