A new Call of Duty leak reveals that the 2023 installment of the best-selling shooter franchise will be named Modern Warfare 3 and will feature a new Warzone map as part of its first season after launch. The Call of Duty machine has continued to churn out content for players as a live service platform since 2019's Modern Warfare reboot, and it's looking like the third installment of the reboot trilogy is on its way sooner than anticipated.
2023 was rumored to be the first year without a new major Call of Duty release since 2004. With the majority of Activision's studios supporting the franchise for years on end, this gap year would've meant a refresh for some of the teams working on Call of Duty as well as for some fans who've been feeling burnt out with the high frequency of annual releases. It was later claimed that "premium" DLC for the most recent title Modern Warfare 2 would take the place of a full game release in Fall 2023, holding over fans who still enjoy the annual output of gaming's most popular FPS franchise. With the mysterious DLC having recently evolved into a fully fledged standalone game during development, new details have emerged about the game's title, maps, modes, and more.
Insider Gaming has reported that this year's installment of the Call of Duty franchise will be called Modern Warfare 3, launching just one year after the release of 2022's Modern Warfare 2. Since Infinity Ward has had its hands full with MW2 and providing seasonal content in the months after its release, Sledgehammer Games, the studio behind Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, WW2, and Vanguard, has been developing the DLC, which has now turned into Modern Warfare 3.
The upcoming iteration of Modern Warfare 3 will reportedly feature the typical three-pillared offering with a story campaign, multiplayer, and a co-op experience. Whereas Modern Warfare titles have always been the home of Spec-Ops as the co-op mode, Modern Warfare 3 is rumored to instead feature Zombies as a first for the modern military subseries. Insider Gaming adds that Activision is on the fence about whether to break the Zombies mode off as a separate free-to-play title. Additionally, an expanded version of Las Almas, a location featured in Modern Warfare 2's campaign and multiplayer, will serve as the new Warzone map for the game's first season which will reportedly begin on December 5.
With two major installments of the same Call of Duty subseries releasing in back-to-back years, fans are justified in feeling worried about just how iterative this sequel will turn out to be, especially since it started as DLC. While Sledgehammer Games is a slightly fresher studio, a year and a half removed from the 2021 launch of Call of Duty: Vanguard, it will be interesting to see if it can deliver something special. Modern Warfare 3 is rumored to launch on November 10, and fans may learn more about it next month at Summer Game Fest.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is rumored to be in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Source: Insider Gaming