There are many signs that Call of Duty will be heading in a new direction after MW4.
Modern Warfare 4 is now being promoted by the developer as ”grand finale”. The finale of what, exactly? The new story trailer sheds some light on this: We see a recap of the events from the current Modern Warfare saga. Oh, and Mads Mikkelsen is now part of the cast, too!
The story began with the Modern Warfare reboot in 2019. MW2 introduced characters like Alejandro and Valeria, while MW3 opened up a new setting with the arch-villain Makarov.
The current wording suggests that Part 4 will now bring all these different storylines and the fates of characters like Captain Price, Ghost, and the other members of Task Force 141 together (and to a proper conclusion).
This makes a hypothetical Modern Warfare 5 seem extremely unlikely—at least for the foreseeable future.
Structural Change at CoD?
As early as late 2025, Activision had announced that it no longer intended to release games from the same sub-brand one after another in order to prevent player fatigue. So a Black Ops title won’t be followed by another Black Ops, and a Modern Warfare title won’t be followed by another Modern Warfare.
This raises the question of what comes next after MW4. Kevin Drew, the Design Director at Black Ops developer Treyarch, recently commented that his studio is working on something new that “no one has ever experienced before.”
You could dismiss this as marketing hype, but on the other hand, it could also signal the launch of an entirely new sub-brand instead of a Black Ops 8.
Does CoD 2027 mark a new beginning?
In 2027, it would be Sledgehammer’s turn anyway. But here, too: Rumor has it that the studio is also working on a CoD IP unlike anything we’ve seen before. So after MW4, we might not hear anything from Modern Warfare or Black Ops for quite a while—for the first time in a long time!
Since 2021 (CoD Vanguard), only Black Ops and MW spin-offs have been released; franchises like CoD Ghosts and Infinite Warfare have been on hiatus for at least ten years.
Due to the constant back-and-forth between MW and Black Ops in recent years, a sort of franchise burnout has set in among many in the community. Many players agree that the shooter franchise urgently needs a breath of fresh air if it wants to remain relevant in the future.
