Activision shows deep dive on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III multiplayer as beta revs up

Activision showed off multiplayer gameplay for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, the new premium combat game coming on November 10.

The company revealed the latest details on Modern Warfare III multiplayer, Zombies, Warzone 2 and Warzone Mobile. The action is predictably fast and furious in the multiplayer demos so far.

The company showed the gameplay at the Call of Duty Next event with streamers. And starting on October 6, a beta will begin for early access PlayStation players who have preordered the game and will continue on October 7. Then the open beta will run on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on October 8 to October 10.

After that, the PC and Xbox early access players can play on October 12 and October 13, while all can play from October 14 to October 16. Modern Warfare III multiplayer will feature 16 updated maps from the Modern Warfare 2 (2009) library.

The game has every modern weapon you’d expect, from drones to underwater weapons.

Developed by Treyarch in collaboration with Sledgehammer Games, Modern Warfare Zombies will take players to the largest Zombies map ever, set in an open-world experience where squads will be challenged to take on the undead in Operation Deadbolt.

There are three new maps coming for Season One and there will be 12 new 6v6 maps for the whole year coming post launch.

In addition to its Ricochet anti-cheat tech, Activision will team with Modulate to deliver global real-time voice chat moderation, at-scale, starting with this fall’s upcoming Call of Duty blockbuster.

The maps unveiled today with multiplayer play included High Rise, Favella, Skid Row, Rust and Estate. The maps have been modernized for new movement like mantling, and canceling a slide in the middle of a slide. Other maps will be coming on day one of the launch. There are three new Ground War maps of 32-versus-32 play that are brand new.

Another mode coming is War mode, with a new map where you have linear objectives and an attacker-defender designation for teams. Ranked Play is going to come for Season 1.5 or so from Treyarch.

Cutthroat

One new mode coming is Cutthroat, which is a trio of three-person teams squaring off against each other. The 3v3v3 mode is inspired by Gunfight 2v2 mode. You spawn on a triangular formation with your loadout in a map and it’s super competitive, with a single life plus revives. Dr Lupo did a demo of the new mode. The teams race for a flag and try to kill each other as well. You play multiple rounds in each match as it rotates through maps.

The Lockpick operator pack, including the Lockpick operator who used to be an art thief, is exclusive to the PlayStation.

Zombies

Zombies, dubbed Operation Deadbolt, looks pretty bloody, slimy and terrifying as usual. It will be its own open world, like a Warzone map, where you can mow them down with vehicles or engage in close combat. There are some pretty big zombies in the trailer. There’s a new Wonder Weapon dubbed the Scorcher, which can demolish 10 targets or so at once. You can use it to do rocket jumps.

It’s a replayable, extraction mode. To get to the center of the map above, you have to try over and over again. You have many choices for different ways to die. On the other hand, on a big Warzone-like map, you probably have many opportunities to slaughter a horde of zombies. There will be much greater density of zombies than in the past.

Warzone Mobile

Warzone Mobile features a Rebirth Island map, one of the games from the previous Warzone. It’s coming in the spring of 2024.

Fortune’s Keep and Rebirth Island will be coming as Warzone Mobile maps and go through a rotation on Warzone. Warzone Mobile is in the hands of some select players right now in limited markets.

That’s a big deal, as Call of Duty: Mobile attracted more than 650 million players. It has cross-progression and shared battle pass, but not cross-play with other Call of Duty platforms. There are 120 player matches with all real humans on the Verdansk map. Activision’s Chris Plummer said the graphics look better now. About 45 million people have pre-registered.

Warzone

In Warzone, there’s a new map dubbed Urzikstan and it has a new gulag. It’s like a training room in a prison with some maze-like barriers. Urzikstan will be a map for Battle Royale and Plunder, while Vondel and Ashika Island will be maps for the Resurgence mode.

New features include horizontal ziplines, a drivable train, a new Champions Quest, and the aforementioned gulag.

A global cultural event

Call of Duty is, of course, a massive event for the game industry and Activision Blizzard. It’s perhaps the main reason that Microsoft is in the midst of buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Now in it’s 20th year, Call of Duty is still a juggernaut. As of last year, Activision’s first-person shooter combat franchise had hit $30 billion in lifetime revenue and 425 million premium copies sold to date.

The game debuted in 2003 as a rival to Medal of Honor, and it has outlasted that franchise. It reinvented itself with the launch of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and did so again in 2019 with Call of Duty: Mobile and in 2020 with Call of Duty: Warzone.

Call of Duty: Mobile reached over 650 million people, and Warzone topped 125 million downloads in its first year. And now there are more than 3,000 developers working on the Call of Duty franchise. Rob Kostich, president of Activision, told me in an interview that plans for Call of Duty are in place through 2027.

TCL also noted that it has the official TV of Call of Duty and it also has the official sound bar of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Warzone 2.