Warzone devs respond to reduced 100-player backlash

The fourth wave of Warzone is here, where Urzikstan will take over from Al Mazrah and hope to surpass the legend of Verdansk.

Given the similarities to Verdansk already, Urzikstan appears to have all the makings of a premium-tier Warzone map, which will only be boosted by a range of quality-of-life updates compared to last year.

But there is one major difference in this new era of Warzone, as there are going to be significantly fewer players to unload lead towards.

Warzone fans unhappy at reduced player count

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In the Warzone Urzikstan map, the player count is being axed from 150 players to a mere 100 (maximum), as Raven Software announced the change in the map reveal.

Immediately after, players took to social media to say that this was their main fear for Urzikstan, claiming the pace of the games would be too slow.

"Biggest worry for Warzone is the player count being too low," said ModernWarzone in a popular thread with similar comments.

There is some saving grace though, as it has also been revealed that Urzikstan is a full 20% smaller than Al Mazrah, meaning that although there are fewer players, there's also a higher probability of POIs being shared by multiple teams.

Raven Software is prepared to revisit player count decision amid fan backlash

In usual fashion, Raven Software isn't deaf to the complaints and has now taken to social media to claim that it is going to monitor the activity and feedback as soon as Urzikstan launches.

"We believe we’ve found the right balance to offer multiple phases starting with fair infill & looting, followed by healthy mid-game engagements, and an end-game climax where the best player(s) leave with the win," said Raven Software in a post on Twitter, citing classic red dots, second-chance mechanics, contracts, and the map size as its reasoning.

"As always, we will continue to monitor community sentiment and internal data closely, making adjustments as needed over time," they added though, insinuating that if the pace is too slow, there will be ample opportunity to change it back.

For those who haven't yet played Zombies, your first taste of Urzikstan will come on December 6, just make sure to have your eyes on those hot drops.