Activision revealed its massive Season One content drop for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Coming tomorrow, the downloadable content (DLC) is being billed as the biggest free update in Call of Duty history.
The multiplayer content for Modern Warfare is a departure from past years, when Activision charged fees for each DLC drop or required a subscription for the entire collection. The strategy is meant to keep a large base of players together, playing the same maps and accessing the same multiplayer features for all players.
That base should be larger this year because Activision has enabled crossplay and cross progression on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC for the first time. And so far, the strategy seems to be working, as the company announced in November that Modern Warfare was outselling 2018’s Black Ops 4 by a healthy margin.
I’ve played through the campaign for Modern Warfare, and I’m at level 40 in multiplayer (openingthexbox on PS4), and I’ve enjoyed this version of Call of Duty more than most years. When the game shipped however, it seemed like I was playing some of the same maps over and over. If you liked Ground War, a new 32-vs.-32 human multiplayer fest that was reminiscent of Battlefield, there were only two maps in the rotation.
Ground War itself is a sniper fest, where players snipe at each other from skyscrapers or tall factory buildings. I’ve enjoyed leveling up my light machine gun and using that to harass the snipers. My kill-to-death ratio is 0.80, which is better than last year and to me it means the modes and maps are balanced for the broader masses. For fun, I’ve included a link to one of my recent rounds.
Fans have also been reacting negatively in previous years to Activision’s tendency to charge for various items such as loot boxes, but in October, developers said they would abandon that strategy due to the poor feedback.
Here’s a look at the free Modern Warfare content all players will have access to that starts next week and will continue throughout the duration of Season One:
New content
- Crash (multiplayer map): The Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare map has returned with all the flanking routes and action-packed rooftop encounters you remember.
- Vacant (multiplayer map): An abandoned office, previously visited in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, leads to intense interior combat across the complex.
- Shipment (multiplayer and Gunfight map): The classic Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare map where fast and frenetic action reigns supreme.
- Port (Ground War map): Battle across massive shipping crates, cranes, buildings, and streets in this Ground War map experience.
- Cargo (Gunfight map): An open-roof storage vessel for shipping containers, on docks of London.
- Atrium (Gunfight map): The centerpiece of a Verdansk palace, still intact despite the conflict raging nearby.
- Reinforce (multiplayer mode): A hybrid of Dom and S&D, a single-life mode with both teams competing for control of three flags.
- On Site Procurement (O.S.P.) (Gunfight mode): A tactically rich 2v2 mode with a twist: Begin with just your fists, and gather equipment as the match progresses.
- Infected (multiplayer mode): It’s hunt or be hunted in this familiar survival party game mode.
- Bomb Squad (Special Ops co-op experience): Forces still loyal to Barkov have planted explosives around the city of Al-Raab. You’re here to defuse the situation.
- Grounded (Special Ops experience): Enemies have seized Barkov’s former airbase. Engage and eliminate them.
- Pitch Black (Special Ops experience): Infiltrate Barkov’s former estate and recover all required intel before an exfill in a Tactical Rover.
- Just Reward (Special Ops experience): Your squad targets the head of an enemy financial operation, hacking his data centers, and gaining intel.
Free Content Accessed through the Battle Pass System
Every player can earn some of the tiers within the forthcoming battle pass system, including cosmetic items and two new base weapons.
- Ram-7 New Weapon: A new fully automatic bullpup Assault Rifle with integrated picatinny rails at 3, 6, and 9 o’clock.
- Holger-26 New Weapon: LMG spec of the Holger model rifle, with integrated sight rail and drum magazine for additional ammunition-carrying capacity.
Note that some of this content may drop later than the Season One start date of December 3, and additional content may be added to Season One.
On December 3, Activision will reveal the 100 tiers of the Battle Pass and reveal Season One in more detail. More content will drop for Season One later on.
