Report: Leaked image reveals canceled ‘Ural Mountains’ BR map in Blackout engine
A leaked image floating around Twitter appears to showcase a look at the “Ural Mountains” map that was rumored for Warzone for several months now.
The map, which appears to feature a Blackout UI/interface, has the different Fireteam maps combined into a single, large scale map.
Original details on this map leaked via XclusiveAce in a video in June 2020. He described the map in a sketch of the different locations, which lines up with the leaked image that is going around Twitter right now. (As with all leaks, tweet will probably be DMCA’d by Activision soon. We are not embedding the image in our article beyond the tweet.)
The locations line up with some of the already released Fireteam maps, with others being unreleased for now.
The leaked image above also shows that the Ural Mountains map was being built in Black Ops’ engine and UI scheme. It has the same directional layout at the top of that in Blackout, not Warzone, which lends to the fact that this map has to be brought over to Warzone’s engine if it were to release.
The new leaks are showcasing that the next Warzone map will be a revamp of the current Verdansk. A leaked live action trailer showcased first look at the map, which had areas of the map changing from its current state to Black Ops Cold War’s 1980s’ themed locations.
According to VGC reporter, this was the case because ‘Blackout 2’ was reportedly in development until being canceled because of Warzone’s surprise success. Cold War’s integration with Warzone was not a guarantee as Activision was testing the waters to see how popular Warzone could become.
VGC reporter talks about this more in their podcast starting at 27:33 mark, where he says that Warzone’s integration was up in the air as the executives were looking to understand the game’s success in the market.
He says that Activision are “throwing resources at Warzone now” to help build and grow the amount of content that comes to the game, as they are aware of fans’ expectations. “Take this map” for what it is, he says, because the teams have been working to adjust to Warzone’s unexpected success.
The revamped Verdansk map is expected to arrive at the start of Season 3, which begins April 22, per the latest rumors and leaks. We have yet to see the official map reveal yet, but Activision will probably kick off the marketing campaign for the new Season in the coming days.