Call of Duty 2021 leaks hint at new Modern Warfare follow up

Brad Norton
Modern Warfare 2019

Before Black Ops Cold War arrives, we may already have our first hint of next year’s Call of Duty setting as a prominent leaker has teased a new Modern Warfare sequel.

While the Call of Duty franchise has 17 mainline entries covering a wide array of timelines, two names stand out as the most iconic. Both the Black Ops series and the Modern Warfare series have seen the most iterations over the years. 

Treyarch has already released four titles in the Black Ops series with Cold War just weeks away. Meanwhile, Infinity Ward has four entries in the Modern Warfare series, the original trilogy along with 2019’s reboot. Now, it seems as though a fifth could also be on the way with Infinity Ward at the helm.

Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software will reportedly be taking a back seat. Instead of the typical three-year development cycle, Infinity Ward has just two-years to work with. We’re still 12 months off from 2021’s mystery release, but we may already have our first details on next year’s title. 

Modern Warfare 2019
Could Price’s story continue in 2021’s Call of Duty?

“It’s looking like CoD for 2021 is another Modern Warfare title of some kind,” prominent leaker Tom Henderson revealed. Not a whole lot is known beyond that key detail, though the setting for the next release appears to be locked in. 

“Understandably not a lot of information as of yet, but it’s a modern-day setting,” he confirmed. Given Modern Warfare’s hard reboot with 2019’s release, could a new sequel be the next step? This would essentially bypass the original Modern Warfare 2 from 2009 if Activision opts for another identical title.

To avoid even more confusion, there’s a good chance the name is a little different, similar to how Black Ops added Cold War to the title for 2020’s drop, despite it being a direct follow up to Black Ops 1. So expect to see Modern Warfare: ‘something something’ as the likely 2021 title.

This could see a direct continuation from where 2019’s game left off. John Price is looking to assemble a team of classic characters to put a stop to Russian terrorist Victor Zakhaev. If Warzone’s ongoing storyline doesn’t beat the single-player campaign to the punch, this could be our objective in 2021’s release.

While this aspect is purely speculation, the leaker also considered the original Modern Warfare 2 being bundled in. No different from how Infinity Warfare launched with Modern Warfare remastered in 2016.

We’re still months away from any official information on the 2021 title, so take this with a grain of salt for now. Black Ops Cold War is the focus for Activision. Anything regarding next year’s game will be kept under wraps for quite some time yet.

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About The Author

Brad Norton is the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. He graduated from Swinburne University with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and has been working full-time in the field for the past six years at the likes of Gamurs Group and now Dexerto. He loves all things single-player gaming (with Uncharted a personal favorite) but has a history on the competitive side having previously run Oceanic esports org Mindfreak. You can contact Brad at brad.norton@dexerto.com