Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 confirmed and release date announced

After months of rumours, Activision has officially teased the Call of Duty for 2023. It will reportedly be a direct sequel to the previous game and will be released on November 10 under the name Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.

All of that is now expected given that Activision has produced a new full-priced Call of Duty game each year since the series' 2003 launch. A 41-second teaser, which was released alongside today's announcement, features the grizzled Captain Price from Modern Warfare III saying, "Never bury your enemies alive," possibly in reference to the main antagonist of the first Modern Warfare III, Russian ultranationalist Vladimir Makarov.

Whatever the reboot offers, it will presumably seamlessly build upon the combined live-service platform already set up with Warzone 2.0 and the entry from the previous year. All of the players' current operators, weapons, and cosmetic packs would transfer between Modern Warfare II and III, according to a prior tease from the Call of Duty Twitter account.Prior to the game's official unveiling, which is anticipated to happen before the end of August, a ton of new and old weapons as well as kill streaks have reportedly apparently been leaked.

A fan favorite move appears to be returning to the series as well. FaZe Swagg, a Call of Duty content creator, shared a video over the weekend in which he received a "slide" sandal, an unidentified container of food, and an old cellphone, alluding to the return of the slide canceling mechanic in 2019 Modern Warfare. When it was eliminated in Warzone 2.0 and Modern Warfare II, some players experimented with less effective substitutes. It had previously allowed high-level players to traverse around maps considerably faster than their opponents.

The key concern is still how much of a complete Call of Duty game the November 2023 release will be. As the franchise sags under the weight of all the expenses and studios required to keep turning out sequels, Bloomberg previously reported that Activision was considering skipping this year's new yearly release. Instead, it was said that expanded DLC created with help from Sledgehammer Games will fill the gap.

It will be interesting to see if Modern Warfare III ends up seeming more like a smaller standalone update. Whether it will cost the new standard "next-gen" price of $70 is yet unknown. What we do know is that it will still be released for the PlayStation 5 as planned, despite Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard's impending completion. Activision titles will continue to be supported on Sony's platform for a further ten years, even after they officially merge with Xbox Game Studios, according to the tech giant.