This year's Call of Duty is reportedly a full game and an "extension" of Modern Warfare 2

News
By published

Reports suggest 2023's CoD was originally a premium DLC, but it's since become a full-fledged installment

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
(Image credit: Activision)

Call of Duty's 2023 release will reportedly be "more Modern Warfare," despite being planned as a full-fledged installment in the series.

This is according to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, who reported that Call of Duty would be skipping its annual entry for 2023 almost a year ago to this day. Apparently, in the time since, Activision has had a change of heart. According to a new Bloomberg report from Schreier, the Call of Duty publisher had originally planned this year's release to be a "premium expansion," but now the plan is for a full-fat game that'll serve as an "extension" of the 2022 Modern Warfare 2 reboot.

As such, this year's entry is said to carry over maps and modes from the most recent Call of Duty, although Bloomberg reports that there's a potential for plans to change in the months between now and this fall, when the series typically puts out a new game.

Activision has been keen on changing the perception that it might be pumping the brakes on Call of Duty for the year. When Bloomberg first reported that we might not get a full Call of Duty in 2023, the publisher was quick to respond and say that it has "multiple Call of Duty 'experiences'" planned for the coming years, and it's since twice insisted that this year's Call of Duty would in-fact be a "full, premium release."

The latest from Bloomberg is that Call of Duty: Vanguard studio Sledgehammer Games had been tapped to develop a big Modern Warfare 2 expansion as a stand-in for the next mainline installment from Treyarch, which had been delayed internally from 2023 to 2024. Now, that expansion has reportedly "morphed" into a full game. 

Whether or not this year's Call of Duty is a full game, the list of new games for 2023 is looking quite good indeed.

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.