The fourth Modern Warfare game won’t have a 4 in the title. That’s because 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare isn’t a sequel, but a reboot, or as developer Infinity Ward calls it, a “re-imagining” of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series.
With this reset of Modern Warfare’s storyline, Infinity Ward hopes to create a relevant, realistic world with events that feel “ripped from the headlines” while also bringing back familiar characters from past games in the series like Captain John Price. Unlike Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Modern Warfare will have singleplayer campaign on top of the usual multiplayer modes and co-op missions.
Here’s everything we know about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
What is the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare release date?
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare releases on October 25, 2019.
But can we play sooner than that?
You can, indeed play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare before October! PS4 players will have an open beta before the rest of us, with pre-order betas and an all platform open beta to follow. Here are all the Call of Duty Modern Warfare beta dates for all platforms:
- September 12-13 – PS4 pre-order beta
- September 14-16 – PS4 open beta
- September 19-20 – PC, Xbox One pre-order beta, PS4 open beta
- September 21-23 – PC, Xbox One, PS4 open beta
The second beta weekend will include crossplay testing, though PC players may not notice. Modern Warfare will feature “input matchmaking,” similar to that used by Fortnite, which matches players together based on whether they’re playing with a controller or mouse and keyboard. Because of that, you’re not likely to get matched against many console players unless you’re already grouped with a friend playing on one.
Will Call of Duty: Modern Warfare have crossplay?
Yes! An official statement sent to PC Gamer confirms that cross-platform play between PC and consoles is planned. “With the launch of Modern Warfare, the team is taking steps to unite the community. First, the team plans for Modern Warfare to be played together across PC and console through cross-play support.”
Gunsmithing will let you kit out weapons based on your play style
The new weapon customization option Gunsmithing will allow you to customize your primary and secondary weapons with “the precise type and style of firepower you require for any type of multiplayer game mode.” What’s important to know about Gunsmithing is that it will force you to choose what upgrades you value most. You’ll only be able to apply five upgrades to each gun, even though there may be more possible components to customize.
You can check out a bunch of different combos in the teaser trailer below.
Loadouts locked. Gear up for the #ModernWarfare Multiplayer Gameplay Premiere on August 1st. pic.twitter.com/vJIMbPZRyEJuly 22, 2019
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare won’t have a season pass
It feels like an unusual and somewhat refreshing bit of news: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare won’t have a season pass. According to Activision, “…the team is eliminating the traditional season pass, so that they can deliver more free maps and content as well as post-launch events to all players.”
What we know about the singleplayer campaign
The campaign will feature missions in a number of European cities as well as the Middle East. In addition to playing as special forces soldiers armed with high-tech combat gear, players will also take the roll of “rebel freedom fighters” who use improvised weapons like molotov cocktails and IEDs, and have to rely on guerrilla tactics to defeat Tier One enemies.
One Modern Warfare singleplayer campaign mission we saw a demo of takes place in North London after a terror attack in Piccadilly Circus. SAS teams infiltrate a townhouse to eliminate a terrorist cell, hunting for the cell’s leader, known as The Wolf. Another mission shows the origin story of Farah, a rebel freedom fighter whose town was bombed and invaded by Russian military forces when she was a child.
There will be ‘classic’ multiplayer modes and co-op missions
We don’t know much about multiplayer mode yet but we’re told that Modern Warfare will contain a ‘classic’ multiplayer experience and an ‘all-new’ cooperative play mode, featuring ‘a collection of strategic co-op missions accessible to all skill levels.’ So far, there’s been no word of a battle royale mode.
There’s a 2v2 mode called Gunfight
A new multiplayer mode called Gunfight pits two teams of two with randomized loadouts against one another on very small maps. So small that you’re expected to kill one another in 40 seconds or else the rules change to force your hand. The 40 second mark might bring a capture the flag element or decide a win based on which team has the most health at the end of a timer. There’s no reviving or healing in Gunfight so the matches do seem to end prior to the rule shakeup, in Chris’s hand-on experience.
In the video we see the Pine, King, and Stack maps. Pine, as you might expect, is set in a forest clearing, and the more obliquely-named King is a warehouse MOUT training site. Stack appears to be a shipping depot.
You’ll be able to learn more about Gunfight and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s other multiplayer modes during a multiplayer reveal event scheduled for August 1 at 10 AM PT on Twitch.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare won’t have a Zombies mode
Sorry, zambo fans. Campaign gameplay director Jacob Minkoff recently confirmed to PlaySation Lifestyle that Modern Warfare won’t have a Zombies mode whatsoever. On the bright side, a focus away from zombies does bode well for those “strategic co-op missions” mentioned above. Could be a proper return to Modern Warfare 2’s excellent Special Ops missions.
Your ‘Tamagunchi’ pet thirsts for the blood of your enemies
In stark contrast to Modern Warfare’s gritty, headline-ripping singleplayer campaign, you can equip a “Tamagunchi” (a riff on the popular Tamagotchi virtual pet toy from the ’90s) to your soldier’s wristwatch that is literally fed by kills in multiplayer.
“This little thing on your wrist, every time you get a string of kills, it goes, ‘Ya-ta!’ and it makes a little noise, then you look at it, and it evolved out of an egg,” art director Joel Emslie said in a Game Informer interview. “Tamagunchis are fed by the player’s performance in multiplayer. It’s just this little active wristwatch thing.”
The more kills you get, the happier your creepy watch pet will be. Horrifyingly, your Tamagunchi will “rot and die” if you stop feeding it the life force of others. Cool cool cool.
Killstreak rewards are back, and they’re killer
(Image credit: Activision)
Killstreak rewards return in Modern Warfare, and they’ll only make you more fearsome. Rewards for uninterrupted killing sprees that we know of so far are a care package with juggernaut assault gear, a manned infantry assault tank with a .50 cal machine gun, and an aircraft that sprays the battlefield with white phosphorus to blind and burn enemies.
Can I just watch the trailer already?
Sure thing! You can watch the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare announcement trailer above.
Modern Warfare 2 remastered still isn’t confirmed, despite PEGI rating
(Image credit: Activision)
After a PEGI rating showed up in March for a Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered, fans have assumed that the new remaster will be packaged with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. This would mirror the way Call of Duty 4’s remaster released alongside Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare in 2016.
Yet, we’re a few months from launch and Activision hasn’t said a peep about a MW2 remaster. There’s still strong evidence that it’s coming, but we can’t be sure it’ll come alongside this year’s game.
Modern Warfare uses a new engine and supports ray tracing
Modern Warfare will support DirectX Raytracing (DXR) on PC. And that means we can surmise that Activision and Call of Duty will be working with Nvidia and the GeForce RTX cards to support the feature. Ray tracing will even be used for audio. In a press briefing, Stephen Miller, Audio Director for the game said, “With the weapon reflection system, it uses ray tracing out into the environment and plays three sounds at point of impact. So as you’re running around you actually get different sounds constantly as it behaves with the geometry.”
Supporting DXR means that Activision/Infinity Ward is upgrading the IW engine to support DirectX 12, since that’s a requirement for all games that support DXR. We’ll have to wait and see how that effects performance once Modern Warfare launches, as traditionally DX12 engines have favored AMD hardware.
Battle royale isn’t the focus of Modern Warfare, but it’s not ruled out
Infinity Ward isn’t completely ruling out battle royale in Modern Warfare, but it isn’t a focus like Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode. “We’re excited for large player counts and things like that, but right now we’re really focused on core multiplayer,” said design director Joe Cecot speaking to IGN. Modern Warfare grows the higher player count to 20v20 on larger maps (by CoD standards).
This isn’t an Epic Games Store exclusive, is it?
No, of course not! Don’t be silly. It’s a Battle.net exclusive, just like Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. There are three options, the $60 standard edition, the $80 operator edition (with premium digital items) and a $100 operator enhanced edition (which includes the digital items plus includes 3,000 Call of Duty points).