Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Genres: First-person shooter
Website
Developer: Infinity Ward
Publisher: Activision
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One
Released: 2019, October 25
Rated: M for Mature
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a 2019 first-person shooter game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. Serving as the sixteenth overall installment in the Call of Duty series, as well as a reboot of the Modern Warfare sub-series, it was released on October 25, 2019, for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One.
The game takes place in a realistic and modern setting. The campaign follows a CIA officer and British SAS forces as they team up with rebels from the fictional Republic of Urzikstan, combating together against an Russian paramilitary group who have invaded the country and the Urzik terrorist group Al-Qatala, while searching for a stolen shipment of chlorine gas. The game's Special Ops mode features cooperative play missions that follow on from the campaign. The multiplayer mode supports cross-platform multiplayer and cross-platform progression for the first time in the series. It has been reworked for gameplay to be more tactical and introduces new features, such as a Realism mode that removes the HUD as well as a form of the Ground War mode that now supports 64 players. A post-launch update introduces a free-to-play battle royale mode, Warzone, which was also marketed as a standalone title. Multiplayer also supports shared screen multiplayer. This mode includes bots, custom maps, custom game-modes and other creative game-interfering actions.
Infinity Ward began working on the game soon after the release of their 2016 title Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. They introduced an entirely new engine for the game, which allows for new performance enhancements such as more detailed environments and ray-tracing capabilities. For the campaign, they took influence from real-life conflicts, such as the Syrian Civil War, the 2012 Benghazi attack, the raid on Osama Bin Laden's compound, and terrorist incidents in London. For the multiplayer, they scrapped the franchise's traditional season pass and removed loot boxes, enabling them to distribute free post-launch content to the playerbase in the form of 'Seasons'.
Modern Warfare received praise for its gameplay, campaign, multiplayer, and graphics. Criticism focused on the handling of the campaign's subject matter, including the depiction of the Russian military, as well as balancing issues in the multiplayer. The game had sold over 30 million units by September 2020. A sequel, titled Modern Warfare II, was released in 2022.