Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is an upcoming first-person shooter video game developed by Sledgehammer Games and published by Activision. It is the twentieth game in the Call of Duty series, and third entry in the rebooted Modern Warfare sub-series, serving as the sequel to 2022's Modern Warfare II. 

The game is scheduled to be released on November 10, 2023, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, as part of a single cross-game launcher, known as Call of Duty HQ. A full reveal of the game took place on August 17, 2023.

Gameplay 
Modern Warfare III will feature similar gameplay to Modern Warfare II and other games in the Call of Duty series. Mechanics returning in Modern Warfare III include the return of slide cancelling. According to Activision, in addition to linear missions, the game's campaign will feature "Open Combat Missions", allowing players to freely choose how they want to approach their objectives.

In Multiplayer, all sixteen maps from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) will be available at launch, alongside the ability to vote for maps while in a matchmade lobby (which was absent in some recent titles), and increased player health for longer "time-to-kill" (TTK). The "red dot" minimap that was absent in Modern Warfare (2019) and Modern Warfare II will also return, which will allow players to see enemies on their radar when the enemies fire a weapon without a suppressor. Classic game modes such as "Kill Confirmed" and "Hardpoint" will return alongside a new game mode titled "Cutthroat", where three teams of three players go head to head. In addition, the Ground War mode also returns with dedicated maps, as well as War mode, last seen in Call of Duty: WWII. The game will feature moderation powered by artificial intelligence, listening in on in-game interactions and immediately reporting any overly-toxic behavior. At least twelve new multiplayer maps have been confirmed to release post-launch.

An open world PvE Zombies mode, developed by Treyarch in collaboration with Sledgehammer Games, will also be included in the game. Players will be able to team up with other players and squads on "the largest Call of Duty Zombies map ever". New mechanics will be combined with old mechanics from previous Zombies titles.

Premise 
Modern Warfare III's campaign is set to take place after the events of Modern Warfare II and its post-launch seasons, and features the appearance of the Ultranationalist terrorist Vladimir Makarov (Julian Kostov), who was teased at the end of the Modern Warfare II campaign. Task Force 141 returns as the central protagonists, comprising: SAS Captain John Price (Barry Sloane), Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley (Samuel Roukin), Sergeant Kyle "Gaz" Garrick (Elliot Knight), and Sergeant John "Soap" MacTavish (Neil Ellice). Also returning from previous Modern Warfare games are: CIA Station Chief Kate Laswell (Rya Kihlstedt), and Urzikstan Liberation Force Commander Farah Karim (Claudia Doumit). Players take on the role of TF141 members as well as members of Makarov's private military company, Konni Group.

The Zombies mode features a new iteration of the Dark Aether story, with narrative ties to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty: Vanguard, as well as the events of the Modern Warfare reboot series.

Development 
Modern Warfare III is being developed by Sledgehammer Games, and is set to use a revamped version of the IW engine. Reports of the game's existence began to surface in February 2023, when Bloomberg reported that the next entry to the Call of Duty series would be a continuation of the rebooted Modern Warfare sub-series. Per the report, Activision planned to ship an expansion pack for Modern Warfare II in late 2023, assigning Sledgehammer to lead the production of the project. The expansion was intended to feature a new single-player campaign that would continue the story of Modern Warfare II, along with new content for the game's multiplayer component. During the development of the project, however, Activision chose to shift its direction, turning the expansion into a fully-fledged Call of Duty title. Fellow Call of Duty developer Treyarch was brought in to develop a Zombies mode for the new title, the first ever instance of such in the Modern Warfare sub-series.

In July 2023, Activision confirmed that Modern Warfare II operators, weapons and cosmetic items would carry over into the 2023 title, following a leak that suggested said title would be named Modern Warfare III. Following a confirmation of the game's title, a blog post was released, detailing the specifics of the carryover.

Leaks 
A large amount of content for Modern Warfare III was leaked before being officially revealed. Around July 17, 2023, the "red dot" minimap, War mode, and new perks were leaked from an internal alpha build. On July 24, 2023, the game's key art was leaked in a Monster Energy promotion, featuring an image of Captain Price behind the Modern Warfare III logo. Around the time of the key art leak, several new weapons were datamined.

The game's key art leak was confirmed real by Activision, who issued copyright takedowns and acknowledged the leak via Twitter with a sarcastic tweet. Another joke tweet was published shortly after, featuring a stick figure with a gun on a red background with the title "MODERN WARFARE REDACTED".

Marketing 
On August 7, 2023, a teaser trailer was posted, confirming the title. Around this time, a phone number was set up by Activision that was shared via social media. This phone number, after participants agreed to a few terms, would begin sending anonymous messages to participants, such as "we need someone like you, with experience in Al Mazrah." This phone number was noted to give unusual responses when sent the word "zombies" or the names of multiplayer maps from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (ex. "Rust"). On August 17, 2023, a full reveal took place inside of a Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 event and concluded with a reveal trailer. Pre-orders were also opened, with players being able to play the campaign up to a week early, as well as gain access to new operator skins and an open beta for the multiplayer mode. 

Modern Warfare III is set to release on November 10, 2023. The confirmed platforms for the game are PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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References

External links 
 

Activision games
Sledgehammer Games games
Call of Duty
Dystopian video games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
PlayStation 4 games
PlayStation 5 games
Windows games
Xbox One games
Xbox Series X and Series S games
Video game reboots
Video games set in 2023
Video games set in Russia
Upcoming video games scheduled for 2023
Video games developed in the United States