I figured that we wouldn't see Microsoft and Xbox announce the next Call of Duty game until the big upcoming Xbox Games Showcase on June 7, but it and developer Infinity Ward decided to go ahead and reveal it a week and a half before the presentation. Indeed, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 has officially been unveiled, and is headed to Xbox, Windows PC, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch 2 on October 23 later this year.
Ahead of its announcement, we knew the game wasn't going to be released on PS4 from an official confirmation of that on social media, and most guessed that Modern Warfare 4 wouldn't be on Xbox One either since it's a last-gen system too — a prediction that turned out to be true.
Something a bit more surprising, though, is the news that Call of Duty: Warzone — the standalone free-to-play battle royale experience that's been a mainstay of the shooter franchise since 2020 — is being sunset from Xbox One and PS4 consoles with the arrival of Modern Warfare 4.
The Call of Duty team announced this near the end of its Modern Warfare 4 reveal blog, noting that Warzone will be gradually phased out on last-gen platforms until the new game's release and the start of Season 1, at which point Modern Warfare 4's content and progression will be integrated into Warzone and the battle royale will be fully taken off Xbox One and PS4.
Something important to note is that while existing Warzone players will have access to the experience until Modern Warfare 4 comes out on October 23, the ability to download and install Warzone on Xbox One and PS4 is going away next week on June 4.
That means you only have a few days to pick Warzone up before it's delisted from storefronts if you're using one of these systems and want to be able to enjoy it for the last few months it's playable on last-gen consoles. If that's you, I recommend doing this right away so you don't forget.
Once Warzone is no longer playable on Xbox One and PS4, you won't be able to purchase the Call of Duty Points microtransaction currency on those platforms. Additionally, from June 25 onwards, Warzone's in-game store will be removed from last-gen versions of the game. You'll still be able to progress through free Battle Pass tiers, though.
Ultimately, this is disappointing news if you're still playing on one of these consoles, but they're now 13 years old now, and I have no doubt that their limited capabilities were holding back the scope of Call of Duty content. Therefore, I'm glad to see that the series is finally moving past them, though I do sympathize with folks that haven't been able to afford or find Xbox Series X|S or PS5 systems.
Frankly, it's never been easy to do, and has only gotten more difficult with the ongoing RAM crisis. Here's hoping that mess ends as soon as it can, even if current projections suggest we'll be dealing with it for another year or two.
Are you still using a last-gen console to play Call of Duty: Warzone? I'm curious to hear from you, so let me know in the comments and vote in our poll.
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