Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Won't Have Battle Royale, Focusing On "Gritty, Realistic" Experience

When Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launched, it came with Blackout, the franchise's first foray into the massively popular battle royale genre of multiplayer shooters. Though that shooter subgenre is rife with potential, the field is steadily becoming oversaturated with content, something developer Infinity Ward seems to be aware of. As it stands, Infinity Ward says it is uninterested in a battle royale mode for the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Joe Cecot, Infinity Ward's multiplayer design director, told IGN that Black Ops 4 and Modern Warfare are different vibes, saying the studio is honing in on the core multiplayer experience. "[We're] 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."

So it seems Modern Warfare will feature nothing similar to Black Ops 4's Blackout. Cecot explained, saying, "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."

Currently, Modern Warfare's largest player count is found in Ground War, which supports up to 40 players. When the reboot launches this October, however, the plan is for Ground War to support more than 100 players in a single match. The new Gunfight mode is Modern Warfare's smallest player count, featuring 2v2 battles reliant on skill and tactical positioning.

Starting in September, Infinity Ward will host private and public betas for Modern Warfare. Scheduled exclusively for those who pre-order on PS4, the first round kicks off on September 12 and 13. The second round, available to all PS4 owners, will run from September 14-16. Those who pre-order on PC and Xbox One can play between September 19-20. It all culminates to the final beta, accessible to anyone with internet access, which is scheduled to run between September 21-23.