Call of Duty Reportedly Getting New Modern Warfare Game In 2023

It seems like Call of Duty will be getting a new Modern Warfare game later this year. For 20 years, we have gotten a new Call of Duty game every single year. While some are more iterative than others, the introduction of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in 2007 marked the first time we got distinct subfranchises for the series that would allow for different styles, tones, and stories to be told in the Call of Duty series. This would give the series a bigger identity and more variety between entries, with stories in the modern era, World War II, Vietnam, the Cold War, the far future, and even space. It worked out fairly well for a while, but as game development has changed drastically in recent years, it has put a lot more pressure on Call of Duty and caused a variety of problems.

In a new Bloomberg report, a bunch of changes to the Call of Duty series were detailed. For starters, the report notes that Call of Duty 2023 is yet another Modern Warfare game that will build off of and carry over some of the content from last year's Modern Warfare II. This initially started as a premium expansion for the game to make up for a lack of a brand new entry in 2023, but it has ballooned into a full scale game. It will include a new campaign that continues the Modern Warfare storyline and new multiplayer content with the intent of still making it feel like a new standalone experience, but it's not expected to be called Modern Warfare III. 

The project is being led by Sledgehammer Games, the team responsible for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Vanguard, but the report notes there are concerns among the team about the short time table. The two-year development for Sledgehammer's new entry is a repeat of what happened on Vanguard, which led to poor sales and negative reviews. However, there is some optimism as the team is being supported by Infinity Ward and Treyarch. It was also noted that, at one point, Activision was aiming to alternate exclusively between Modern Warfare and Black Ops games with each game receiving two years of post-launch support. Whether or not this happens remains to be seen as the plans were deemed "hazy" as Activision awaits possibly being acquired by Microsoft.

What do you think about getting more Modern Warfare? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.