In recent years, Call of Duty has been suffering from what I lamented last year to be a severe case of Fortnitification—you know, just about every game you know and love amalgamating and morphing into a multimedia glob where some bozo from a TV show can gun down a real-life celebrity and then proceed to be revived by their teammate donning the skin of some anime protagonist.
While I don't exactly mind it in Fortnite, it always felt that little bit off in Call of Duty. Something doesn't sit right with me about setting up my loadout on Nicki Minaj, or a frighteningly realistic Levi Ackerman doing a 360 no-scope. I certainly cannot grasp what the hell Skeletor is doing there.
Well, it looks like Infinity Ward wants to walk back some of that baffling incoherence with Modern Warfare 4, which was revealed earlier this week. "Every aspect of Modern Warfare 4 is anchored in the game's narrative," a post from the Infinity Ward X account reads. "Every feature, every decision needs to feel authentic to what Modern Warfare is, and that includes cosmetics and collabs. We're committed to keeping it grounded and transparent, and we want to hear from you on what you'd like to see in our game."
Every aspect of Modern Warfare 4 is anchored in the game's narrative. Every feature, every decision needs to feel authentic to what Modern Warfare is, and that includes cosmetics and collabs. We're committed to keeping it grounded and transparent, and we want to hear from you on… pic.twitter.com/6hwcX9bWt1May 28, 2026
That sounds like it's not ruling out collaborations entirely, mind. There's still room for some of that delicious crossover money to be made. But it seems like Infinity Ward is being more mindful about ensuring that whatever makes its way into the game is more tonally appropriate. Rather than, you know, Beavis and Butthead sniping you. For what reason? I don't know, man. I love Beavis and Butthead but I am perfectly okay with them not being Cornholio or needing TP for their bungholes anywhere near my shooters.
Of course, this isn't the first time we've heard this. Activision said essentially the same thing about Black Ops 7 in 2025, acknowledging complaints about Call of Duty skins and promising that skins will "be crafted to fit in the Black Ops identity." Five months later, Fallout arrived.
You'll be able to enjoy this more modern, transparent entry into the Call of Duty series when Modern Warfare drops on October 23 later this year. Our very own FPS fanatic Morgan Park got some time with the multiplayer mode recently, and while he's "not convinced it's a major leap forward" for the series, he's "confident that Modern Warfare 4 will be the best-playing Call of Duty in years."
