Activision Blizzard has announced Call of Duty: Next, a livestream event that will include information on Call of Duty: Warzone 2, Modern Warfare 2, and Warzone on mobile. The showcase will air on September 15, and a public beta for Modern Warfare 2 will follow.
Announced on the Call of Duty blog, Activision Blizzard calls Next an “an era-defining franchise event showcasing the immediate future of Call of Duty.” No specific timing has been announced at time of writing.
The event will include:
- Information on Modern Warfare 2
- Information on Call of Duty: Warzone 2
- Information on the mobile version of Call of Duty: Warzone
- A reveal of Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer
- Streamers playing the games live
- Unannounced information “and surprises”
The event will be followed by two sets of open betas for Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer mode. The first set, September 16-20 will be PlayStation exclusive, while the second (September 22-26) will take place across all platforms, with crossplay.
Early access will be offered to those with pre-orders for the game – you can get full details on how to access the beta on the Call of Duty blog.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 open beta details. (Images: Activision Blizzard)
After many, many rumours, we finally had it confirmed that Infinity Ward would be working on a sequel to 2019’s reboot of the Modern Warfare sub-series. Arriving on October 28, we got our first look at the game as part of E3, including extended campaign gameplay.
An entirely new version of Call of Duty: Warzone was announced earlier this year. It will be developed by Infinity Ward, and will include an “all-new playspace and a new sandbox mode.” It will also be developed on the new engine developed for Modern Warfare 2.
This could also be the last annual Call of Duty game, as it was reported that 2023’s Call of Duty game will be released in 2024 and that the series may no longer be an annual franchise following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. However, reports also suggest that Activision Blizzard is committed to keeping the next three Call of Duty games multiplatform.
Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
