Tense, minimal, with chaotic combat and visceral gun fights. Love it or hate it, the Shipment Map has become an iconic part of the Call of Duty franchise.

The map is featured heavily in Treyarch-developed games and has also been reimagined and implemented in Sledgehammer Games’ takes on the popular FPS franchise.

The Shipment map has had many variations since its 2007 debut, with some sticking close to the original layout while others take creative liberties.

But regardless if it was set in 2019, 2027, or even 1944, the map has become a mainstay of the series, with over ten official appearances and reimaginings.

What Is the Shipment Map in Call of Duty?

The Shipment map is a very small, usually 6v6, recurring multiplayer map in the Call of Duty franchise, first created for CoD 4: Modern Warfare.

Multiple Call of Duty developers have remade, ported, and reimagined it in various themes and arrangments. Still, it has mostly remained a three-lane map divided by shipping containers.

First Shipment Appearance in Call of Duty

Shipment’s first appearance happened in 2007’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and it was arguably one of its most frenetic. It was in a league of its own with its tiny size and the added chaos of CoD 4’s especially powerful Frag Grenades.

There was no lead-up to a gunfight; the explosions and gunshots were already aimed at you as soon as you spawned. But due to its small size, it also became a favorite for quieter 1V1 matches.

But the map skipped a couple of entries in the franchise afterward. It did appear in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s Alpha as a multiplayer test map, but otherwise was absent from subsequent releases.

The map was, of course, available to play again in the 2016 remaster of Call of Duty 4.

Reimaginings & Remakes of the Shipment Map in Call of Duty

Some Shipment map releases stuck very close to the original design, keeping even the background elements similar, if not the same.

But other entries have introduced new elements and themes to the maps, not just to capture the nostalgia but to evolve the map’s design.

Container Map in Black Ops Declassified (2012)

Though not directly named such, the Container map in the Vita exclusive is the Shipment map in all but name.

The shipping container and asset placement are virtually identical to the original map in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, but now the location is in an industrial park in the golden hours of the late afternoon.

There are some new brick barriers and objects for cover, but, for the most part, the overall layout stayed the same.

Showtime Map in Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013)

Though this gem was snuck into a DLC for Call of Duty Ghosts, It is one of the most innovative versions of the map, and not just because of its near-future setting.

Setup as a dystopian gladiatorial arena, the Showtime map keeps roughly the same asset placement. But everything around is different.

This version features hallways around the arena, allowing a small respite from the center’s carnage. But these can be even more dangerous.

The map also provides randomized killstreaks in an over-the-top billboard-sized slot machine that can gas the hallways pushing everyone toward the center.

By fulfilling short challenges, called Field Orders, scattered around the map, players would get a chance to use the slot machine, which could grant any of the following.

• Six Care Packages with rewards land in different locations.
• Sentry Gun turrets activate around the map.
• Lethal Gas spreads through hallways.
• A “Jackpot” grants the three above.
• A K.E.M. air strike kills all enemies on the map.

Shipment in Call of Duty: Online (2015 full release)

The first and only exclusive attempt at targeting the Chinese market directly was the free-to-play Call of Duty Online, which featured the Shipment map.

However, despite a similar appearance, the map has some big alterations. It’s longer and larger, with short hallways, more containers, two staircases in the center, and more.

Judging by video evidence, it unsurprisingly has a different background of presumably a port in China and different text illustrations and advertisements.

Though the game was never officially available to players not in China, this didn’t stop players from trying. But high ping rates due to foreign servers made it especially challenging to play.

However, it is no longer available went offline on January 11, 2021, as the worldwide release of Call of Duty: Mobile functionally replaced it.

Shipment 1944 in Call of Duty: WWII (2017)

Sledgehammer Games brought the Shipment map to the past, placing it on Normandy’s beaches during the famous D-Day military operation in 1944.

Giant warships form as iron walls against the water, with decimated enemy encampments up the hill away from the shoreline.

While it’s a huge aesthetic change for the map, Call of Duty WWII again sticks fairly close to the original design and object placement but with period-appropriate assets, like wooden containers.

The map was also ported to Call of Duty: Mobile for Season 9 (2020), but it was unfortunately removed and replaced in 2021 with the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) Shipment map.

Shipment in Modern Warfare (2019)

Though the 2019 remake, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, stayed fairly close to the original Shipment map, more than a few small changes threw off veterans.

It is rotated 90 degrees (going forward, they all are), and former open shipping containers are now closed, but there are also new traversable openings in other containers.

However, the central three lanes remained largely the same. This version also allowed players to climb on top of the shipping containers.

In Season 2 of Call of Duty Mobile (2021), the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) Shipment map was ported over to the platform.

Shipment in Call of Duty: Vanguard (2021)

Likewise, Call of Duty Vanguard utilizes the normal map layout with less cover in the corners. But it sticks with the beach setting, this time in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Not far from the city, the army base and shipping yard have palm trees scattered about it and islands visible in the distance. This time, the map provides even more open containers to travel through.

Instead of generic sheet metal containers, they are either wooden or marked USA military equipment.

There’s also more verticality to map with containers hanging directly above it and the ability to still climb on top of the containers and seek refuge in the second-floor containers.

Shipment in Modern Warfare 2 (2022)

As a part of the MW2 & Warzone 2 Season 1 Reloaded update, Infinity Ward is adding the Shipment map to multiplayer playlists, this time with a new theme.

This version keeps the same three-lane structure but places the map on a sinking cargo ship in the Atlantic Ocean. A storm rages around the battlefield as if the original map wasn’t chaotic enough.

Some other changes include:

• You can not jump on shipping containers like in Modern Warfare or Vanguard
• Taller stacks of containers surround the battlefield
• The edges of the map now lead directly into the ocean
• Shipment game modes include:
  • Domination
  • Search & Destroy
  • Hardpoint

For the 2022 holidays, the iconic map is also getting decorated with icy containers, string lights, Christmas trees, and more to see upon its release.

To prepare for Shipment’s latest reworking, pre-load the update for MW2 and Warzone 2. There are also a lot of other changes coming to MW2 and Warzone 2 in the Season 1 Reloaded update.