So, you want to play Warzone, but you want to play Fortune's Keep or Rebirth, but when you load up the original Warzone, you can't do that, and when you boot up Warzone 2, you can't do that, either. Why'd they take these maps away, when did that happen, and are they coming back? Not to worry, because we're here to answer all those questions. Read on to learn what you need to know about what's going on with Rebirth and Fortune's Keep in Warzone.
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When Did Rebirth and Fortune's Keep Get Removed?
Basically, Rebirth and Fortune's Keep got removed from the original Warzone experience when Warzone 2 launched. This came as part of the larger rebrand of Warzone to Warzone Caldera.
If you're reading this at the time of writing, January 2023, that all happened recently, so if you took a break from Warzone and then came back looking for either of these maps, this is why you'll no longer be able to find them and when that all happened.
But, of course, this begs the question of why: Why did Fortune's Keep and Rebirth Island get removed from the game?
Why Rebirth and Fortune's Keep Were Removed From Warzone
First off, as mentioned above, Activision has 'rebranded' Warzone to Warzone Caldera. This was likely done in an attempt to differentiate the original Warzone from Warzone 2. Now, the original game, or at least the state the original game evolved into, is its own thing, Warzone Caldera, while the latest version of Warzone, Warzone 2, can take the main spotlight.
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But why not just rebrand Warzone and leave all its maps intact? Well, a couple of reasons. First, it's no doubt likely that considering Rebirth and Fortune's Keep were the most popular maps in the original Warzone since Verdansk was removed that removing those maps was done in part to keep the playerbase from fracturing and splitting apart, encouraging folks to make the jump to Warzone 2. However, that's not the full story.
The speculation is that both Rebirth and Fortune's Keep will come to Warzone 2, more on that later, but why just Rebirth and Fortune's Keep and not Caldera and Verdansk, too? Well, first off, Verdansk wasn't really designed with the intention of it becoming the main map in the world's most popular battle royale and was envisioned as more of a map for a fun side mode.
Accordingly, it had structural and balance issues throughout its lifespan, and in part, it's what led to the creation of Caldera. Plus, Verdansk is an iconic feature of the original Warzone, so if that original game is staying live, bringing its main map to the sequel doesn't make a lot of sense. Caldera, on the other hand, was never especially popular, and moreover, it's a WWII map, which isn't exactly a great fit for the modern Warzone 2.
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However, Rebirth and Fortune's Keep are well-liked, well-designed maps, and Fortune's Keep is a new map, too, not to mention that they fill a different niche than Warzone's main BR maps, being much smaller and generally focusing on the respawn Resurgence mode. Accordingly, it makes a lot more sense to bring those maps over to Warzone 2, the main Warzone experience.
So, when is Fortune's Keep and Rebirth coming to Warzone 2, and why the long wait for their return?
When Rebirth and Fortune's Keep Are Coming Back to Warzone
On a technical level, the original Warzone ran a different version of the engine powering Warzone 2, so it's not as simple as uploading the map's data to a server and pressing a button. Not to mention that there are likely to be some changes coming with these maps when they do return since they were initially released for a different game.
Beyond that, though, releasing two maps simultaneously doesn't make a lot of sense either, especially for a live service game. Feeding in new content over time vs dropping it all at once is generally a much better way to retain players over months and years by way of always having things to look forward to down the line.
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Then, there's slotting the release of a new map into the release schedule of Warzone 2. Warzone 2's currently going through its first season where many people are playing the game for the first time and experiencing its all-new map for the first time, so there's definitely some pressure not to steal the spotlight away from this all-new experience with the return of an older map.
However, you won't have to wait long for these maps to begin their return. Rebirth, as well as the Resurgence game mode, is expected to make its Warzone 2 debut in Warzone 2's Season 2 that begins on February 15th, which is at the time of writing just a few weeks away. There's less of an idea as to when Fortune's Keep is returning, but there are also some additional complexities in bringing another map to the game.
The primary concern is file size. Warzone maps are big, and accordingly, they take up a lot of space on a hard drive. So, there's always going to be pressure to keep the Warzone 2 file size relatively limited and not let it expand out to 300GBs, 400GBs, etcetera. So, Activision may well choose to switch out Fortune's Keep and Rebirth from time to time to keep things fresh and not overwhelm players' hard drives.
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So, you might expect Fortune's Keep to return in Season 3, while you might also expect Rebirth to go away, for a while, during Season 3. Of course, all of this remains to be seen, but given how the original game worked, it's a pretty safe expectation that we'll see some kind of system similar to that.
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