Everything We Know About Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Multiplayer

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is coming later this year, but it will be a bit different from the last few Call of Duty games. The Modern Warfare brand is incredibly strong and it seems like Activision will not be forgetting that this year. It's the first time back-to-back Modern Warfare games have ever been released and will be developed by Sledgehammer Games as opposed to series creator Infinity Ward. It will seemingly be leaning more on both the original Modern Warfare 2 and the rebooted Modern Warfare 2 rather than taking a mega leap forward, but there will still be some innovations. 

The first ever Modern Warfare Zombies mode will be introduced in the game and there will even be some sandbox missions in the campaign. However, the multiplayer is the meat and potatoes of the series and we already have quite a few details on the Modern Warfare 3 PvP modes. You can take a look at the maps, new mechanics, and more below.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Maps

It has been confirmed that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will feature remastered versions of the 16 launch maps from the original 2009 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. This will include maps like Rust, Afghan, Terminal, Highrise, and more. They are expected to return as the maps we knew them as instead of "reimaginings", something that has happened in last year's game with select maps. Rumors suggest there will still be some differences such as the inclusion of interactable doors like the last two Modern Warfare games, but that has yet to be confirmed. There will also be four new, original Ground War maps at launch, but we have no details on those yet. You can view the list of known maps that will be available at launch below.

• Rundown
• Rust
• Afghan
• Skidrow
• Sub Base
• Scrapyard
• Wasteland
• Terminal
• Derail
• Highrise
• Estate
• Invasion
• Favela
• Quarry
• Karachi
• Underpass

How is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Different from Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is set to make a bunch of pretty big changes from its predecessor. It seems like in many ways, Sledgehammer Games is going to be addressing the things fans didn't like about the first two games in the rebooted Modern Warfare series to make it more appealing. For starters, the game will have 150 health over 100, allowing for longer time-to-kill, which should prioritize player skill over things like reaction time and the best weapon loadout. Obviously, those will all still play a factor, but you likely won't get shot so fast you can't even react in Modern Warfare 3. 

Another addition is that maps will once again show the red dots of players who are firing with unsilenced weapons. This was a feature in Call of Duty for years but was removed in 2019's Modern Warfare to prevent players from staring at their mini-map and going to wherever the red dots were. That seemed to be a bit disruptive to the flow of gameplay, however, and fans didn't respond well to it. Thankfully, that's being reverted with this game.

Movement also seems to be getting an upgrade to be less sluggish as things like slide canceling are making a return. We'll likely find out more in-depth details about the multiplayer in the beta and at CoD Next, but so far, it sounds like Sledgehammer Games doesn't just want to make Modern Warfare 2 (2022) again.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Content Will Carry Forward to MW3

Skins, cosmetics, and weapons will carry over from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to Modern Warfare 3. This is intended to be a continuous experience and ensures the money/time you spent on last year's game will be usable in this year's game. This is the first time Call of Duty has done this outside of Warzone and is a pretty welcomed addition. There will be some skins that don't carry over and although they haven't said which ones specifically, it's likely the TimTheTatman and Nickmercs skins as they were removed from the store shortly after launching. Your weapons will be available in-game as soon as you unlock create-a-class in Modern Warfare 3, which should be within the first 5 – 10 levels.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Beta

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will have a beta before launch. The beta will start on October 6th and end on October 16th. There will be different phases for the beta depending on what platform you're on, whether you've pre-ordered the game, and other factors, so check out the dates below for more clarity. As of right now, we don't know what content will be in the beta.

• Beta weekend 1 (PS4/PS5) – October 6th – 7th (pre-orders) October 8th – October 10th (open to all PlayStation players)
• Beta weekend 2 (PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S/PC) – October 12th – 13th (pre-orders on Xbox and PC, open to all PlayStation players) October 14th – October 16 (open to all players)

When Is CoD Next

As with what happened last year, Activision will hold an event later this year called CoD Next. The event is designed to give players their first look at multiplayer, allow content creators the chance to play the game, show off new Warzone content, and more. It's pretty much a big Call of Duty blowout. The event will be held this year the day before the beta on October 5th, we can likely expect a ton of news on the game there along with the first multiplayer gameplay.