The fifth Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is called Modern Warfare 2, not to be confused with Modern Warfare 2

Surprise, there will be a new Call of Duty game this year. It’s Infinity Ward’s turn up to bat and we’ve known for a while that its next game is the sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare. Today, Infinity Ward formally announced the game’s name along with a logo: Modern Warfare 2.

If you’re thinking, “Wait, Activision already used that name the last time there was a second Modern Warfare game,” you’d be correct. Just as Modern Warfare confusingly mimicked the name of the 2007 Call of Duty game that kicked off its popularity, the new Modern Warfare 2 has an identical twin, Modern Warfare 2, which came out in 2009.

That last Modern Warfare was pretty dang good, so I’m excited, but wow what a mess of names. I didn’t mind the repetition as much with the first Modern Warfare reboot because, at least in that game’s case, the two games have slightly different names—Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare vs. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Some people call the old game just “Call of Duty 4” so distinguishing between them isn’t too bad. Not the case when it comes to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 vs. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. That’s just two different sequels with the same exact name.

I guess Infinity Ward marketed itself into a corner when it named the first reboot. If you want fans to know your new game is a direct followup to your last one, especially in a series like CoD that zigs and zags between three concurrent sub-series, it’s a good idea to slap a ‘2’ on it. Modern Warfare 2-2 (2022) won’t be confusing to anyone keeping up with the series, but it’s bound to cause a headache somewhere down the line.

Modern Warfare 2 is a sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare reboot, rather than a remake of 2009’s original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Besides the logo, no new details about the game were revealed.

A sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare was officially announced back in February, alongside Warzone 2. Infinity Ward is taking the lead on Modern Warfare 2, but 11 different studios are reportedly working on the game in some capacity. Other reports say the campaign will feature U.S. special forces fighting Colombian drug cartels.Modern Warfare 2 will seemingly mark the end of Call of Duty’s streak of annual releases. Bloomberg reported that Call of Duty’s planned 2023 release has been pushed back to 2024. This lines up with other rumblings saying Call of Duty devs are eager to move away from the annual release schedule.

Despite Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Modern Warfare 2 isn’t set to be an Xbox exclusive. According to a report from earlier this year, Activision Blizzard has already committed to releasing three more Call of Duty games across multiple platforms, including PlayStation. After that, however, the series could live exclusively on Xbox.

Author Profile

Paul McDonald

Photo Editor

Paul is a freelance photograher and graphic designer and has worked on our most recent media kit.

Email https://markmeets.com/contact-form/