We spend many hours playing video games. Not necessarily in a row (which is also true), but accumulated over time. It’s more than enough time to grow fond of certain locations and create very powerful memories, especially when it comes to multiplayer experiences.
Personally, I have particularly fond memories of The Division. I have logged over 1,000 hours in its New York City and I admit that saying goodbye to it before the release of The Division 2 was a delicate moment. I have returned subsequently, but it doesn’t feel the same when you have turned the page. It’s like visiting the place where you grew up.
Nuketown de Call of Duty It doesn’t share such a powerful position in my mind, but it certainly is an unavoidable mention when talking about iconic video game locations. If that oval could talk, how many stories would it tell? How many laughs and angers could it relate?
Nuketown: More than a decade of killing, laughter and anger
Hold on to your chair if you have chronophobia: the map Nuketown is 14 years old, heading to 15 in 2025. The original version arrived in 2010 with Call of Duty: Black Ops and quickly became one of the community’s favorite maps. Since then, the map has seen many of the best plays and funniest moments in the video game.
Its 1950s aesthetic (Nevada, USA) and its three-lane structure (a classic) won over most Call of Duty fans. Not only was it the desired one during the games, it has also been the setting for hundreds of tournaments and other competitions organized by the community. It was also thoroughly investigated to find all its secrets and easter eggs. This version also reached Call of Duty: Mobile.
The legend of Nuketown has reached heights that no other map has ever achieved. It has been recreated in real life at different scales: life-size, dioramas, LEGO and more. It has also been recreated in other games such as Minecraft, Fortnite and No Man’s Sky, and through mods in many others that do not have creative mode or map creators. Needless to say, Activision did not miss this opportunity for future installments.
Nuketown has had several versions over the years. While its aesthetic changes have not always convinced fans, its structure has remained more or less the same. And we say “more or less” because some players have measured, analyzed and compared each one to the millimeter. They literally measured the gaps through which it was possible to shoot or peek before the enemy.
The version of Nuketown 2025 Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 was the most conservative of all those that came out over the years. The aesthetics were updated to the 60s and the basic structure was maintained, although the change of some elements such as vehicles meant some alterations in terms of strategy when advancing. Another very cool and quite conservative retro version was Cold War’s Nuketown ’84, although in this case with a setting of an abandoned town in the desert.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 dragged the franchise’s theme into the future and brought Nuketown with it. This version had many more detractors than the original. Although the basic structure was respected, the concept of Nuk3town set in the future 2063 did not convince those who preferred the classic vibe of the 50s and 60s.
Luckily, Nuk3town became history and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 brought a much more conservative version… but different at the same time. It returned to the classic design, but this time Russian. It was known as the Chernobyl-themed Nuketown, since it was originally a nuclear testing town and a relationship with radioactivity had to be established. All the versions mentioned so far kept the classic easter egg of the mannequins.
It was obvious that Nuketown couldn’t be limited to just multiplayer. Activision destroyed the map on several occasions to introduce it to the legendary Call of Duty zombies mode, as we saw in Black Ops 2 y Black Ops 4. I remember the latter’s version being particularly bloody and apocalyptic. Oh! And it was also razed to the ground to be included in Blackout, the franchise’s first foray into battle royales.
It’s almost been 15 years since Nuketown came into our lives and Activision knows it very well, that’s why it has worked on a new version for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. The last COD Next Fest showed all the maps that will arrive during the launch and one of them was the legendary Nuketown, although this time under the name of Sandhouse. The small town is buried in the sand, so we can expect it to be something similar to what we saw in Cold War.
All that being said, do you have any fond memories of Nuketown? How many versions have you played? Mine is a simple one, but I cherish it fondly: one night playing with friends I fell out of my chair laughing so hard because they kept telling jokes and making fools of themselves during the game. I ended the night with the worst jaw pain of my life.
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