On the multiplayer front, developer Infinity Ward has detailed a number of significant improvements and additions, including Raids, a new third person mode, Gunsmith 2.0 for expanded weapon upgrades and customization, and much more. Recent reports have also claimed that Modern Warfare 2 will add maps from older Call of Duty games as paid DLC in 2023. Read more on that through here.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launches on October 28 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

https://youtu.be/OeVapCrI1pY

This wouldn’t be the first time that internal builds for alpha testing are going live for a Call of Duty game under codenames. Last year, for instance, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War went live with similar builds under the codename “The Red Door”– and that happened pretty much around the same time, so there’s that as well.

Leaks suggest that this year’s CoD is going to be called Call of Duty: Vanguard and will be set during the Second World War. Allegedly, it’s going to use Modern Warfare (2019)’s IW8 engine, unlike Black Ops Cold War. Activision has confirmed that true to the leaks, Sledgehammer Games is leading development on the shooter.

#CallofDuty what is this logo that was slated right along side Call of Duty 2021 assets in https://t.co/DZWiyUuqNz pic.twitter.com/cjxK7eOMC2

— Helba (@Helba_The_AI) June 30, 2021

https://twitter.com/PlaystationSize/status/1411111786754064389

Nostalgia has emerged as something of a big business for Activision over the last few years with remasters and remakes of some of their older properties being big successes. One of those was last year’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, a remastering of the first two beloved skating titles. Now it seems that more platforms are being teased.

Via Twitter, there’s been something of a fun Twitter chatter. The Tony Hawk official Twitter tweeted out to the official Crash account about hooking them up on some new platforms, in reference to the recent announcement that Crash 4: It’s About Time would be coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch in March. Nintendo of America also got in on it with a reply. It’s worth noting that the remaster’s developer, Vicious Visions, is technically no more as they were merged with Blizzard, so whoever is handling these versions would be someone else.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. When or if the game will end up announced for those other platforms, we’ll keep you updated.

https://twitter.com/CrashBandicoot/status/1363987010554241027?s=20

https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/1363989710578753537?s=20

With the latest entry in the annual shooter franchise, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, the series dropped the tired and true season pass model for a more live service friendly approach. The title’s second season is ongoing now, which you can read more about here, and it seems the game could be teasing a bit on what we could expect with some items.

As you can see below, some interesting cosmetics have popped up referencing a “Toxic Event” as well as several other cosmetics that follow a biohazard theme. While there’s plenty of skins, these stick out when you consider the mysterious gas mentioned in the season 2 teaser linked above. That feels like it fits with the rest of the pieces.

It could also be related to the rumored battle royale mode, Warzone, that is allegedly coming sometime next month. Of course, it could be nothing at the end of the day, and all of this is just looking too hard at nothing. We’ll see soon enough.

Following the announcement that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will have a battle pass instead of loot boxes, Activision has released a blog detailing how this works. The Prestige System is out – there are now Enlisted Ranks, which are your typical level ups that provide weapons, perks, equipment, killstreaks and so on. Each weapon has its own camo challenges, attachments and so on to unlock.

However, upon hitting the Enlisted Rank of 55, you can access Officer Ranks for the season. There are 100 Ranks in total and a Challenge will be provided at each rank. Earning ribbons from completing challenges will give you an Emblem with 100 ribbons guaranteeing its own Emblem.

XP is earned through daily challenges, Officer Challenges and Challenge Missions. When a new season starts, your Officer Rank is reset and new free content is introduced along with more things to unlock. It’s an intriguing system and a good alternative to random Supply Drops. Time will tell if this remains the system all throughout the game’s lifespan (or how Activision will choose to monetize it).

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare releases on October 25th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is out next week and we’ve heard quite a bit about its PC optimization. However, thanks to a new trailer, we get to see how all the work translates in-game. Check it out below and marvel at the attention to detail.

Beenox is assisting Infinity Ward to optimize the PC version which includes 4K resolution support and uncapped framerates. Of course, it will also support widescreen and multi-monitor displays, high dynamic range lighting (HDR) and even have field of view sliders. Time will tell how “polished to perfection” the PC version, especially during the crazy 64 player Ground War matches, but so far, so good.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare releases on October 25th for PC, Xbox One and PC. The PC version is exclusive to Battle.net so you’ll need an account and the launcher to play it. Head here to learn more about the system requirements, which aren’t too hefty, and here for clarification on the install space needed (which isn’t 175 GB at launch but over the long term).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7bryYlI95Y

The next entry in the annual Call of Duty series is nearing a reveal. The series has traditionally been revealed right before E3 in June, but we don’t know much about it as of now- other than the fact that Infinity Ward is this year’s developer, and that unlike Black Ops 4, it’s going to have a single player campaign. Now, though, we might know something else. Based on a casual conversation on a Fortnite stream coupled with an interesting tweet, it’s very possible the next Call of Duty is Modern Warfare 4.

We recently reported about a private event last week that invited several football players to try out the new Call of Duty ahead of its reveal. All videos and pictures where expertly shot to not show so much as a glimpse of the game. But one person who was there, Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota, was hanging out with streamer Nickmerks as he played Fortnite, and when talking about the event, explicitly said he had played Modern Warfare 4.

Couple that with a recent tweet by former Infinity Ward Creative Strategist Robert Bowling- in which a fan said they’d crap themselves if Marota was correct, and Bowling advised him to bring some brown pants. 

It’s not an official confirmation, of course, so we have to take all of this with a grain of salt. But this, coupled with earlier rumors that Infinity Ward was going back to their roots, lends some credibility to the possibility.

https://twitter.com/fourzerotwo/status/1121132642018050048

When you’re bringing back a much beloved, PlayStation One era franchise, that too remaking it from the ground up while keeping the basic architecture, gameplay and fundamentals intact, the response may not always be great. However, Vicarious Visions’ Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy clearly hasn’t had that problem – it’s ranked as the number 1 best selling title in UK for five weeks since its launch and fourth-best selling title in the United States for June (according to NPD).

It may not be that big of a surprise but Activision is certainly overwhelmed by the support. CEO Eric Hirshberg spoke to investors after an earnings release last night and stated that, “We had no idea – it’s hard to tell whether that’s a vocal minority or whether that’s a real mass audience until you put something out there. And Crash has surpassed all of our expectations by a pretty wide margin.”

Thanks to Crash’s success, Activision is now considering other such projects. “So this is a strategy that clearly has our attention, and while there are no new announcements today, I think you can be confident that there will be more activity like this in the future with more great IP.

“The other opportunity beyond remaster[s] is to look at some of our classic IP and ask whether or not it could be reborn on a new platform like what we’re going with Skylanders on mobile.”

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is currently available for PS4 (check out our review here) though rumours have been brewing about it coming to Xbox One.

The weekly reset has come and gone for Bungie’s Destiny which brings the same old activities you’ve done way too many times but with new modifiers.

The Nightfall this week is The Abomination Heist, a reworked Year 1 Strike which now has SIVA Fallen enemies. Modifiers include Epic, Berserk (enemies can’t be staggered), Small Arms (increased Primary weapon damage), Chaff (no player radar) and Fresh Troops (additional enemies in squads).

The Heroic Strike playlist has the modifiers Heroic, Small Arms, Fresh Troops and Airborne (players do more damage in the air). Those raiding in Wrath of the Machine can take note as Aksis is the Challenge this week.

If you’re curious to know more about material exchanges with factions, featured Crucible playlists and weekly bounties, head here. Stay tuned for more information, especially what’s changed in this week’s featured Age of Triumph raid King’s Fall. Meanwhile, let us know what you think of the old raids in the comments below.

Some eagle eyed Destiny players think they may have spotted a detail that may have confirmed the incoming arrival of the next “mega expansion” for Destiny. Back in February we had reported that the next expansion pack, Plague of Darkness, earlier known as “Comet” is expected to be bigger than the upcoming House of Wolves.

During the recent House of Wolves Twitch Stream, a weapon detail was spotted to read as, “Increases attack value of this weapon to the maximum available in Year 1”. This of course points towards a possible “year one” and “year two” plan for Destiny.

So does this mean that Comet will mark year 2 for Destiny and will launch sometime this September i.e. the first anniversary of Destiny? We don’t know but if the logic of year 1 and year 2 is anything to go by then surely it’s a possibility. Reports that have circulated about Comet have said that it will bring along a wealth of content and it will effectively serve as Destiny 1.5. The expansion pack will add new weapons and story missions. But this is speculation from my end but if you’re a devoted Guardian, keep an eye out for more details.