Call of Duty: Modern Warfare battle royale all but confirmed after 2 new teases

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare battle royale will likely arrive sooner than later, as indicated by the new intro cinematic for season 2 and a mysterious new mode on the game's menu.

The new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare season 2 cutscene that plays in-game starts with the usual CoD stuff: a team of grizzled operators shooting their way through an abandoned airport. After a firefight, Ghost rappels down and radios in to tell Captain Price that "they're targeting their own" in Verdansk. Then the camera pulls back and we see a series of battle royale hallmarks: a sprawling map dotted by explosions and firefights, a plane airdropping more soldiers into the battlefield, and a ring of sinister green gas closing in on the area around the airport.

Sounds like battle royale, right? On top of that, the main menu for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare now has a fifth option, labeled "CLASSIFIED". That positions whatever's coming next as more than a new map or deathmatch variant - as a proper pillar of the game, right along with the campaign, competitive multiplayer, and co-op.

Call of Duty first jumped into the battle royale craze with Black Ops 4's Blackout mode, finding success with fans of standard Call of Duty multiplayer and battle royale enthusiasts alike. Then Call of Duty Mobile made battle royale one of its headlining features. With battle royale slotting so neatly into the Call of Duty formula, it seemed like only a matter of time before it would make its way to Modern Warfare.

Aside from dropping those teases, Infinity Ward hasn't offered any indication of when we should expect the new battle royale mode to arrive. That said, it seems like it would be rude to leave a big "Classified" game mode hanging out at the center of everybody's menus for long.

See what we're most excited to play in the new season of Modern Warfare 2.