Modern Warfare developer finally responds to battle royale rumors

Connor Bennett

An Infinity Ward developer has stated that their focus for CoD: Modern Warfare remains on multiplayer and not a battle royale, following rumors.

Ever since the new Modern Warfare name was confirmed back in May, Call of Duty fans have been left wondering as to whether or not Infinity Ward would follow up on Blackout with a battle royale of their own.

Despite apparent leaks around a mega separate mode, the developers have showcased numerous parts of their multiplayer. Eager fans got to witness plenty of gameplay thanks to the Multiplaye premiere on August 1, with the full set of killstreaks, brand new perks, and more informative details being revealed. Yet, the battle royale talk has been eerily quiet. However, Infinity Ward might just have quashed any hopes. 

Fans have been treated to some in-depth looks at Modern Warfare’s multiplayer.

Speaking to IGN, Infinity Ward’s MP Design Director Joe Cecot stated that Modern Warfare will be a “different experience” compared to previous releases. 

He said: “We really focused on Modern Warfare, authentic and gritty, realistic weapons, and it’s a different experience. It’s really…just about pulling back to Modern Warfare and keeping that pure.”

Cecot also confirmed that the developer’s focus is with the core multiplayer experience. “[Infinity Ward are] big fans of battle royale. We’re excited for large player counts and things like that, but right now we’re really focused on core multiplayer,” he added.

Modern Warfare releases on October 25th but could a battle royale follow that?

Will Modern Warfare have a battle royale after release?

Perhaps the most impressive part about the Modern Warfare reveal was the increased lobby sizes – with the new Ground War mode having a 100-player lobby.

Clearly, with that running smoothly, the technology is there to blow away the current battle royale genre with a new and improve CoD offering. Cecot continued on: “ On the technical side, we’ve had to do a ton of work on the multiplayer side to make things more efficient so we could push the player counts higher and higher and higher.”

While Infinity Ward has not ruled out having a battle royale, instead opting for a no comment in the past, it does seem to appear as if Modern Warfare will not dip its toe in the BR market. 

Some fans may still cling on to the hope of dominating their friends in search of a victory royale, they might just want to let go off what hope remains.