This year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will include every launch map from 2009's Modern Warfare 2, remastered and expanded with new modes and gameplay features.
The news was leaked earlier and indirectly revealed through Call of Duty's ARG marketing campaign, but now we have explicit confirmation from Activision via press release. The complete list of 16 launch maps includes: Afghan, Derail, Estate, Favela, Highrise, Invasion, Karachi, Quarry, Rundown, Rust, Scrapyard, Skidrow, Sub Base, Terminal, Underpass, and Wasteland.
What's even more interesting is that these classic maps are returning remastered and modernized with additions that weren't there in 2009's Modern Warfare 2. It's unclear exactly what those new features are, but they're sure to put a fresh spin on a bunch of familiar environments.
This will also come as a very welcome surprise to folks who were hoping for at least some of the maps in 2020's Modern Warfare 2 remaster, which only included the campaign and didn't feature any sort of multiplayer component. Meanwhile, and of course confusingly, the 2022 Modern Warfare 2 reboot sequel is even more distinct from the 2009 game and doesn't share any of the same launch maps, so this really seems like it gives fans of that 14-year-old game what they've been wanting for years.
It's unclear if any of 2023's Modern Warfare 3 will eventually add any of 2009 Modern Warfare 2's post-launch maps, but I'd say the 16 launch maps are a pretty dang good start.
