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jeremy-bijl
21st March 2018

Call of Duty: MW2 remaster rumours gather steam

A remaster might finally be on its way, but it may not feature multiplayer
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Call of Duty: MW2 remaster rumours gather steam
photo:Wikimedia

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: is arguably the last goliath of the last console generation yet to make its way to the PS4 and Xbox One.

Not that there hasn’t been demand — in 2015, a petition launched demanding that Activision remaster the game for next-gen consoles which garnered 221,545 signatures, gaining coverage by major outlets like IGN and Gamespot. Hitherto, public demand has been met with stony silence by Activision and Infinity Ward.

However, rumours of a remaster have resurfaced in the last couple of days, with a retail listing from Amazon Italy pointing to a release date of 30th of April, 2018. What’s more, Activision Blizzard are listed as the official sellers.

photo:Mancunion

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this kind of rumour. Just one month ago, a retail listing from Swedish website Webhallen emerged pointed to a 2019 release for another coveted long-term absentee, EA’s Skate 4. As of yet, these rumours have yet to materialise, although their validity will no doubt be tested by this year’s major conferences.

Since the Amazon Italy listing, a number of other pieces of evidence have emerged through social media.

Streamer xtheBIGDRUx tweeted a picture showing him in conversation with an Amazon customer service representative, who told him that “you can place an order for (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered) after — 23rd March, 2018.”

photo:Twitter

Elsewhere on Twitter, American store Target tweeted from their @AskTarget account in response to a question about the game, saying: “We understand the excitement regarding the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered game. At this time, Makarov has withheld this information from us and Soap is trying to receive it. We would encourage you to regularly check your local store and online for updates.”

Further fuel was added to the fire following an Instagram post from YouTuber Ali A, who has close ties with Activision, saying he was flying to the U.S “for a secret project”, saying “all will be revealed in a few days.” However, Ali A has since denied that this is related to MW2.

These clues all hint at a release date in the coming few days, and it may be significant that this overlaps GDC (Game Developers Conference) that is ongoing in San Francisco, U.S.A. Although not as high profile as E3, the GDC still attracts international coverage, and was the event in which the original Modern Warfare 2 was announced back in 2013.

Infinity Ward – the developers behind the game – are speaking on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of the conference (21st-23rd March) in a series of presentations called ‘technical issues in tools development,” which may present an opportunity to showcase the game.

Furthermore, a release in the first half of this year would mean that a remaster of Modern Warfare 2 would avoid stepping on the toes of Black Ops 4, which, as is traditional for new CoD releases, will most likely release in November.

Fans will be hoping that, unlike its predecessor, Modern Warfare Remastered, Modern Warfare 2’s release will not come with an announcement that it will be bundled with an upcoming CoD title. This seems unlikely however, given the huge amounts of negative PR Activision attracted with this strategy last time around.

Having said that, Activision may not be done with PR disasters just yet: Call of Duty news outlet ‘charlieINTEL’ have reported that a source within Raven Software, who were responsible for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, has indicated that the game will not feature a multiplayer mode.


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