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Rumor: Call of Duty 2026 Could Be Bringing Back DMZ

Published Jan 22, 2025

Kyle has a degree in Film, Television, and Cultural Studies and has loved video games for as long as he can remember. He's owned every PlayStation, dabbled with the occasional Xbox, and even owned a PSP Go, if anybody actually remembers those. These days, he's more into building PCs and spending all of his money on the latest triple-a releases.

During his time as a journalist, Kyle has interviewed developers and game directors, reviewed some of the year's biggest releases, attended preview events for huge triple-a titles, and occasionally ranted about his love/hate relationship with Call of Duty.

Summary

A new leak suggests Call of Duty's DMZ mode will return in 2026.
DMZ was introduced in 2022's Modern Warfare 2, but Activision ended support for the mode in December 2023.
Call of Duty 2026 is allegedly being developed by Infinity Ward.

A reliable industry insider has claimed that next year's Call of Duty title will see the return of DMZ, an extraction-based mode that was released alongside 2022's Modern Warfare 2. While Call of Duty's DMZ mode was fairly well-received by both critics and fans, Activision announced it would no longer be supporting the mode back in December 2023 with the launch of Modern Warfare 3 Season 1.

With the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2022, Activision also introduced a brand-new mode: DMZ. Similar to other extraction shooters on the market, DMZ allowed players to jump into an open world (in this case, it was on various Warzone maps such as Al Mazrah, Vondel, and more) with their teammates and complete a variety of missions while going up against both AI enemies and real-life players. The aim was to complete as many missions as possible, earn valuable items, and then successfully extract with the rewards. Unfortunately, with games like Escape From Tarkov dominating the genre, DMZ didn't quite take off like Warzone did.

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By Cameron Swan

Call of Duty's DMZ Mode Potentially Returning in 2026

After Call of Duty ended support for DMZ over a year ago, fans were uncertain if the mode would ever make a return. With Zombies, Warzone, and Multiplayer already taking up a hefty amount of resources for the Call of Duty developers, a fleshed-out extraction mode seemed like it was too much to maintain. However, according to TheGhostOfHope, who is a reliable Call of Duty leaker, DMZ will be returning in 2026. This also isn't the first time that rumors of the mode's return have been circulated, as CODWarfareForum discovered references to DMZ in the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 beta files.

Rumors of DMZ's return has many fans skeptical, including ModernWarzone, who says that they hope the mode is "more fleshed out" as it simply won't compare to the recently released Delta Force. The extraction shooter was released in December 2024 for PC via Steam, but the developers have confirmed that it will also be making its way to consoles in Q1 2025, which means a release window between January 1 and March 31. If Delta Force takes off in a similar regard to Escape From Tarkov, Call of Duty could have a hard time convincing extraction shooter fans to jump ship come 2026.

While Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is only three months old, there have already been plenty of rumors surrounding upcoming Call of Duty titles. Various leaks and rumors have already revealed that Call of Duty 2025 will allegedly be a sequel to Black Ops 2 and may also be keeping Treyarch Studios' brand-new omnidirectional movement system, which was introduced in the latest Black Ops title. As for 2026, rumors indicate that Infinity Ward is helming development on the title, which could be either another entry in the rebooted Modern Warfare series or a sequel to 2013's Call of Duty: Ghosts.

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Released: March 10, 2020
ESRB: M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs, Violence
Developer(s): Infinity Ward, Raven Software
Publisher(s): Activision
Engine: IW 8.0 & IW 9.0 (Warzone 2.0)
Multiplayer: Online Multiplayer
Cross-Platform Play: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S

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Welcome to Call of Duty®: Warzone™, the massive free-to-play combat arena which now features Urzikstan, Rebirth Island and Fortune’s Keep.
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Prepare to take the battle to a new metropolis in the all-new Urzikstan map, the new big Battle Royale map. Jump in to celebrate the epic return of Rebirth Island and Fortune’s Keep, two Resurgence maps that are sure to excite veterans and newcomers alike.
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