More war in Modern Warfare 4
It’s more Modern Warfare, in a different country, but with the same tone, attitude and experiences. When the thing that fans are most excited about from your reveal is that the loadout menu looks a bit like one from 2007, I think there’s some serious problems.
This year’s mandatory entry in one of the longest running shooter franchises, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, shouldn’t be confused with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Completely different games. Instead, it’s the 23rd main entry in the series and is the first current-gen only Call of Duty game. This game is also the first to be developed by Infinity Ward since the divisive Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 from 2022 (not to be confused with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 from 2009).
They really should get more creative when it comes to naming these games.
It’s no secret that Call of Duty has lost its way a little over the last few entries. What used to be the king of console PvP shooters and FPS military campaigns has faded into the background, with lower player numbers than ever before despite ever-rising development costs. Last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was co-developed by Treyarch and Raven Software, alongside Beenox, Activision Central Design, Activision Central Technology, Activision Shanghai, Demonware, Digital Legends, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, and Sledgehammer Games.
That’s a lot of studios, and a lot of mouths to feed. While it’s always hard to find accurate numbers for game budgets, thanks to the court case surrounding Microsoft’s Activision acquisition (new tongue-twister unlocked) we know that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War cost $700 million back in 2020. These are incredibly expensive games to make.
So there’s a lot of pressure on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Judging from the reveal, and a creator call where the game directors shared a few more details on the game, I’m not sure they’re headed in the right direction.