Last month, Activision and Infinity Ward revealed the next entry in the Call of Duty series, Modern Warfare 2. This isn’t a remake or remaster of the classic Modern Warfare 2 that was released in 2009, but instead is a continuation of the 2019 Modern Warfare reboot.
Modern Warfare 2 is set to release later this year, with the release date of the next Call of Duty game typically being in either October or November. With the game just months away, Activision is already beginning its marketing campaign for Modern Warfare 2 and so far it hasn’t been the traditional advertising that would be expected.
Activision has made full use of its marketing budget for Modern Warfare 2 by recreating the game’s logo with ice. In a video on Instagram, which is captioned “Stay frosty,” the logo is painstakingly recreated in ice and is created from multiple large blocks of ice shaped with knives, saws, and even a chainsaw. Once the sculpture is completed, the Modern Warfare 2 logo, styled as MW 2, is displayed before being dropped onto the ground and destroyed. The Modern Warfare 2 sculpture was created by Okamoto Studio which is based in New York and is arguably one of the most impressive forms of marketing that Activision has done to promote its games.
In recent weeks the marketing for the next Call of Duty game has ramped up, with NFL Draft prospects being shown the game early, with the players giving positive feedback on the game. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is expected to be revealed in June, likely with an official gameplay trailer. Based on previous releases, it is likely that the alpha and beta for Modern Warfare 2 will be released in August and September ahead of its release a few weeks later.
It has been stated that Modern Warfare 2 is being developed on a brand-new engine alongside the sequel to Call of Duty: Warzone. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Warzone, and Vanguard all use the IW 8.0 engine, while Black Ops Cold War uses its own upgraded engine using tools from the IW 8.0 engine. This means that the series has been using the same engine for four releases, and a brand-new console generation has been released since the series began using IW 8.0, so it will be very interesting to see what the next incarnation of the engine will be able to do, especially when utilizing the power of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will release later in 2022 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. It is unconfirmed at this time whether the game will release on PS4 and Xbox One.
