Since it was first announced, fans have been speculating whether Modern Warfare would have a battle royale mode. A number sources have dropped supposed hints and leaks about mode over the past few months. Now, one of these dataminers may have found evidence of a Modern Warfare battle royale mode in the PC beta’s files.
The supposed leak was recently shared by YouTuber and noted leaker TheGamingRevolution (no relation) on Twitter. The YouTuber has shared a number of previous leaks regarding the supposed existence of a battle royale mode for Modern Warfare before. This latest leak looks to be mode substantial, however, as the post came with a screenshot of what they claim is an actual line of code from the game’s beta client.
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According to TheGamingRevolution, the line of code looks to be part of some sort of loot or plunder system that also involves in-game currency. What seems to indicate that the code is for a battle royale mode is the fact that it contains multiple instances of the “br” prefix. This prefix is thought to refer to the battle royale mode as most files relating to the regular multiplayer mode usually uses the “mp” prefix instead.
Now some people on the replies to the tweet have asked whether or not this could possibly be just remnants from the code of the previous Call of Duty game, Black Ops 4. The latter was, after all, the first game in the series to eschew its traditional campaign mode for a battle royale mode called “Blackout.” In response to this, another poster in the replies, pointed out that the strings also contain the “iw8” prefix as well, in reference to developer Infinity Ward, and possibly the new engine they’re using for the game.
As many longtime fans know, different studios work on each annual Call of Duty game. While Modern Warfare is being handled by series creator Infinity Ward, last year’s Black Ops 4 was developed by Treyarch. More importantly, the developers use different engines for the games. While most of the engines are built on the IW Engine, Infinity Ward and Treyarch use different versions of it (Sledgehammer on the other hand have used its own engine since Advanced Warfare onward). The latter actually uses an older version, IW Engine 3, that’ its continually modified on its own. Infinity Ward, on the other hand, is building a new engine for Modern Warfare. With this in mind, its highly doubtful that the game would use code from Treyarch’s Black Ops 4.
Of course, Activision has yet to confirm whether or not a battle royale mode is coming to Modern Warfare. However, neither the publisher nor developer Infinity Ward have ruled the mode out. In an interview with Game Informer back in August, Modern Warfare art director Joel Emslie told the publication that “We’ll have to wait and see” when asked about battle royale.
Meanwhile, the beta itself may have another hint in regards to the battle royale mode. The beta does not feature the logo for Raven Software. However, as noted by Call of Duty site to CharlieINTEL, Raven has been mentioned in all the press releases for the game. Interestingly enough, some of the previous leaks and rumors pointed to Raven Software as the developer of Modern Warfare‘s battle royale mode. The studio’s exclusion from the beta could actually lend credence to reports that Modern Warfare’s battle royale mode will be coming as a standalone free-to-play spin-off next year instead.
Of course, all of what’s been reported about battle royale in Modern Warfare, whether be it as a mode, or as a standalone spin-off is just pure speculation at this point. Hopefully Activision will spill the beans sometime before Modern Warfare launches on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on October 25.
