Modern Warfare 2 devs tease final multiplayer maps “lean into” competitive play

Modern Warfare 2 developers at Infinity Ward have implied that the last remaining maps for their seasonal content plans “lean into” the competitive CoD style of play.

For the CoD franchise in 2023, plans are a little unclear. Conflicting reports have touched on a wide range of possibilities, from simply another year of Modern Warfare 2, a possible new expansion on the way, to more recent leaks suggesting a full-fledged sequel is on the way instead.

At this point in time, nothing concrete has yet been outlined. However, one thing we do know for certain is that seasonal content will continue rolling out for Modern Warfare 2 in the interim. Season 3 is already well underway, and as usual, the next major content drop is only around the corner.

In speaking with two lead multiplayer devs at Infinity Ward, we gleaned some insight into just how far ahead the team plans its seasonal content, and even got a hint at what to expect from the very end of Modern Warfare 2’s 2023 roadmap.

“I think the final ship year, we already have our plan for post-launch,” Multiplayer Design Director Geoff Smith told us. “Maybe those maps haven’t been started, but at least we’ve earmarked what they could or should be. There’s always kind of a rough plan. Different things happen, different situations come up, and those plans can change. But we’ve been trying to get better at pre-planning the post-launch stuff.”

While nothing too specific was revealed in our conversation, Smith then teased what fans can look forward to with what will seemingly be the final batch of MW2 content later this year. Specifically, ranked grinders and CDL fans alike should be especially keen to see what’s on the horizon.

“As a fun side note… I’ll probably get in trouble for this, but the last three maps of this year, we’ve kind of leaned into maps I think would play that style really well,” Smith teased, speaking on the more competitive chunk of the CoD community.

Exactly what those maps look like, obviously remains to be seen. These could all be brand-new designs or we could see more classics making a return to cap off the MW2 cycle. Anything is possible but it appears Infinity Ward is planning to cater to the competitive crowd with this particular set of maps later on in 2023.

“It’ll be fun to see,” Smith continued. “I like to throw in some exploratory stuff in post-launch. Secret little tests to see how things resonate and how they play. But it’ll be fun to see how those go over.”

Despite these plans, it is worth mentioning the 2023 CDL season may very well be in the books by the time these competitive-leaning maps make their way into the game. With this year’s Champs event set to conclude by June 18, it’s safe to say these new additions won’t be available in time.