Call of Duty 2026 Reportedly Bringing Back Fan Favorite MW2 Mode

Call of Duty 2026 will reportedly bring back a short lived, but fan favorite mode from Modern Warfare 2. Call of Duty is one of gaming’s most storied franchises. It has been going for over 20 years now and has managed to stay relevant the entire time. Since Call of Duty 2, the franchise has released a brand new game every single year without fail, even if it came at the cost of a weaker entry. The constant release schedule has meant that Call of Duty has to find new ways to try to differentiate each new game so it doesn’t grow too stale too fast.

Call of Duty has evolved from being World War II shooter to mirroring modern day conflicts to telling stories in the far flung future. Ultimately, the modern day era is where the series seems to thrive and has the most fans. The series has also expanded outside of its core entries with the free-to-play game Call of Duty: Warzone where it has managed to capture an audience that both engages with the yearly entries but also people who don’t care to play the new games. It’s allowed Call of Duty to have an additional revenue stream, but also offer some variety thanks to the sandbox nature of battle royale. However, there was an attempt to do something that acted as a bit of an extension to Warzone via a mode called DMZ.

DMZ was introduced in Modern Warfare 2 (2022) as a large scale PvPvE mode that allowed players to battle in Warzone‘s map over valuable items such as rare weapons and other rewards. However, this could all be lost if players died before extracting. It was a fun twist and it attracted a loyal audience, but DMZ was not supported very well. It died off pretty quickly due to a focus on the core game and Warzone, leaving some fans to be disappointed. It had plenty of potential, but Infinity Ward was unable to capitalize on it.

Call of Duty 2026 Will Reportedly Bring Back DMZ

However, not all hope is lost. Call of Duty 2026 is reportedly planning to bring back DMZ, which is likely going to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. As of right now, this is just a rumor courtesy of noted Call of Duty leaker TheGhostofHope on Twitter, but he has been right about a number of things pertaining to the series before. According to Hope, Call of Duty 2026’s DMZ will feature its own maps that also get shared with the Ground War playlist, meaning it will not be as connected to Warzone this time around. Developers are reportedly trying to figure out whether the game will stay PvPvE or if it will just be PvE, meaning players will only be fighting bots.

It will likely be quite a while before we hear anything about Call of Duty 2026, let alone its plans for a potential DMZ mode. This year’s game is rumored to be a Black Ops 2 sequel set in the late 2020s or 2030s, something that has been directly hinted at within Black Ops 6 via its max level reward. Given DMZ is a byproduct of the Modern Warfare series and Infinity Ward, it’s extremely unlikely there will be anything like that in a new Black Ops game this year.

Of course, it should also be noted that Call of Duty 2026 is just under 2 years away since it will likely release in October or November 2026. A lot of things can happen between now and then, including the cancelation of the DMZ mode. All of these things are in flux at the moment and you should take it with a grain of salt until it’s officially confirmed, but it’s still exciting to think that DMZ is being considered for a proper, more well-supported return for next year’s Call of Duty.