Seven ate nine
Odds are if you’re playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare still, you’re probably playing the battle royale Warzone component. Activision is banking on that too, as they’ve completely converted the “Modern Warfare” Battle.net launcher listing into “Warzone.”
Yep, outside of the tiny little “MW” logo near the giant “Warzone” letters, future players would pretty much never know that Modern Warfare was offered on the launcher at first glance. The move actually happened in late December, but a lot of folks went to boot up their game over break and just noticed the shift (or their launcher wasn’t fully updated yet).
This is effectively just a rebranding. Modern Warfare still exists, but it has taken a backseat to Activision’s attempt to make Warzone as popular as Fortnite. Some fans are mixed on the shift, asking Activision to make Warzone a separate app. Others, still fans of Modern Warfare multiplayer proper, are upset that their game is basically being left in the dust.
Having played every modern Call of Duty since…the original Modern Warfare though, this is a sort of natural state for this series. Activision moves on to the new hotness and rarely lingers, unless the game is a massive hit and they can keep pumping DLC into it for a time. Warzone is one of the biggest breakouts they’ve had in the history of the franchise, creating as much buzz as zombies when it was first released; so focusing on it is a no-brainer.
Still, completely eclipsing the Modern Warfare name that a lot of developers worked on just seems strange.
Call of Duty: Warzone [Battle.net via PC Gamer]
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