The Gulag is one of Warzone’s mechanics that sets it apart from other BR titles. But, despite the unique experience it offers, players are demanding the removal of certain weapons that harm the competitive nature of this 1v1 arena.
Call of Duty: Warzone has done plenty to separate itself from other competitors in the battle royale genre. The game’s Gulag experience — a showdown between two players for a chance to respawn after their first death — helps make Warzone a completely unique BR experience.
While the Gulags in Verdansk and Rebirth Island (introduced in BOCW Season 1) have been praised for the unique twist they add to the flow of Warzone matches (and the ability to salvage a particularly good performance after an unlucky death), they have also faced their share of criticism.
In feedback posted on Reddit, players criticized certain Gulag weapon rotations they feel “ruin the competitive immersion.” In the post on r/CODWarzone, user ‘u/JustAMicrowav1n’ shared frustrations with being forced to use certain weapons that negatively affect the outcome of these showdowns.
The post began by pointing out some of the positive aspects of the Gulag’s various weapon choices. “Sure, it does shake things up a little bit, add a bit of freshness to it,” they admitted, but their outlook on the weapon options in the Gulag then shifted toward the negative.
“Fists in the Gulag? throwing knives?” they asked. The player’s biggest criticism was the effect of these weapons on high-skill games. “When you are in one of those sweaty games . . . and you gotta win the Gulag . . . that is very frustrating to get these specific weapons.”
They also pointed out technical issues with these weapons, and said “[Who wins] fist Gulags 90% of the time literally depends on your latency.” Connection issues are a common complaint in any FPS, and could affect the outcome of encounters involving these niche weapons.
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u/JustAMicrowav1n clarified “Don’t get me wrong, different Gulags are fun, but at least make that difference non bulls**t!” They ended the post by asking Activision to go back to the game’s previous weapon rotations: “Just revert it back to the old one with pistols, SMGs, ARs or LMGs.”
The community seemed to largely agree with the post. One user replied “Totally agree about the fist gulags — they are totally stupid, not in any way fun and the inconsistency in those fights is ridiculous.” Another player voiced their frustration by saying that they would “rather deal with the campers.”
While the Gulag weapon selections are updated regularly, it appears the community is so fed up with these particular options that they want them removed entirely. It remains to be seen whether these options will be permanently shelved, or simply rotated out and brought back again later.
