Today, Activision announced a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer stream, which will reveal what Activision is calling Modern Warfare’s “multiplayer universe” on Thursday, August 1. Activision also revealed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Gunfight, a new 2v2 multiplayer mode.
The full Modern Warfare multiplayer stream will take place on the Call of Duty Twitch channel, twitch.tv/callofduty. According to Activision, Modern Warfare‘s “multiplayer universe” will feature a unified progression system across all its modes. Notably, the company is planning for the implementation of cross-platform play and for “the removal of the traditional season pass,” delivering free content such as maps and community events instead (although it’s very unlikely that the game won’t contain microtransactions of some kind). Activision also mentioned that additional “intel drops” on the game’s multiplayer will be released throughout July, leading up to the full reveal.
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For the gameplay reveal of the Gunfight multiplayer mode, Activision partnered with 100 Thieves streamer Jack “CouRage” Dunlop, OpTic Gaming Call of Duty coach Tyler “TeePee” Polchow, streamer Tom “Syndicate” Cassell, and eUnited’s Jordan “LEGIQN” Payton, rather than streaming on the Call of Duty Twitch channel.
Modern Warfare Gunfight features “quick-action” combat in Modern Warfare’s smallest multiplayer maps. Four players will face off in teams of two. Each player is required to use the same loadout, which switches every two rounds. The first team of two to win six rounds wins the match.
Each round lasts only 40 seconds. When the round is over, it enters “Overtime.” During Overtime, players have 10 seconds to secure a flag that spawns somewhere on the map. Teams can win during overtime by either capturing the flag (which takes three seconds) or by defeating the other team. If neither of those conditions are met before the 10 seconds are up, the team with the higher remaining health wins.
Activision showed off three maps during today’s stream: King, a warehouse interior; Pine, a dense forest; and Stack, a container yard in the desert. Team spawn points switch sides of the map every two rounds.
According to Activision, the Gunfight multiplayer mode was inspired by the developers’ stripped-down multiplayer weapon balancing tests, which explains the streamlined, skill-based nature of the mode.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is set to release on October 25 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.