Warzone players furious as Pacific Caldera map runs on Modern Warfare engine

Matt Porter
Warzone players firing weapons in Pacific Caldera

Raven Software have officially confirmed that Warzone’s Pacific Caldera will run on the same engine as 2019’s Modern Warfare, leaving many players confused and angry.

After months of hype, Warzone Season 1 is finally here, and introduces a new full battle royale map for the first time in the game’s history.

This major update sees the integration with Call of Duty: Vanguard, with new weapons and Operators all set to join the battle royale.

With this integration, many expected Warzone’s engine to receive an overhaul to match Vanguard’s, however, that does not seem to be the case, leaving many fans of the series frustrated.

warzone caldera map gameplay

When Vanguard launched, Sledgehammer Games confirmed that Vanguard would run on Modern Warfare’s engine. The team did however build on the original engine to add new visual fidelity technology, a damage layer system, and adapted tools from the Black Ops series too.

Despite these improvements, it appears that Pacific Caldera runs on the original 2019 Modern Warfare engine, which means these additions won’t be present in the game.

This has left many confused and disappointed, sharing their frustrations at this decision, especially considering that Activision and Raven both claimed it would share technology from Vanguard previously.

Some players voiced their concerns about how guns will feel from game to game, with JoshJones-55 tweeting: “So what you’re saying is, Vanguard guns will feel different [in Warzone]? This franchise is a walking ‘L’.”

Nwaz Dante was equally frustrated, claiming that Raven had “fooled” players by using an “old engine,” and compared it to the frustrating Black Ops Cold War integration.

Twitter user ‘1800kissland’ explained why they felt this decision made Warzone seem stale, writing: “Although Modern Warfare and Vanguard run on the same engine, Warzone staying on the MW client means same perks, same menus for 3 years now, and Vanguard weapons being ported to Warzone.”

“They should have made [Pacific Caldera] native to Vanguard.”

While some are upset with this news, there are benefits to this decision. Players won’t need to adjust to a new movement system, and the game will feel almost identical to what we’ve been used to over the last two years.


To give yourself the best chance in Warzone’s Pacific Caldera, check out our loadout guides for weapons like the Automaton and PPSH-41.

Image Credits: Raven Software