Lock and load: “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4” has been unveiled as the next mainline game in the Microsoft-owned Activision’s massive war-game franchise.

Per the official description for the game, “Set against a rapidly escalating global conflict centered on the Korean Peninsula, ‘Modern Warfare 4’ pushes the series into darker and more dangerous territory as a full-scale invasion of South Korea threatens to destabilize the world.”

Developed by Infinity Ward, “Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4” will launch Oct. 23 across Xbox Series X and S, PlayStation 5 and PC via Battle.net, Xbox on PC, Steam, and even Nintendo Switch 2 — marking the first time in more than a decade that a new “Call of Duty” game has been on a Nintendo platform.

Activision revealed a first look at the game in the “Modern Warfare 4” trailer Thursday, teasing the three planned modes of play: Campaign, Multiplayer and DMZ.

In the main story campaign set in the Korean Peninsula, Private Park, a young Korean grunt soldier, is thrust into combat for the first time, as he and his squad are forced to overcome impossible odds in a gripping zero to hero journey. “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” vet Captain Price will return to form a rogue alliance, operating outside the system and apart from the Task Force 141 team he once called his own.

Activision says the campaign storyline will take players from trench warfare in Korea to close-quarters battles in New York, to high-speed pursuits through Paris, SAS night raids in Mumbai, and city-wide assaults to reclaim territory.

Variety has confirmed voice and motion-capture cast for “Modern Warfare 4” currently includes Prisca Kim, Lanny Joon, Barry Sloane, Young Mazino and Luke Tennie.

For multiplayer, Activision says “on day one, players will deploy across 12 all-new core 6v6 maps set in visually and tactically distinct locations around the world, built to support a range of playstyles from tight close-quarters combat to more open engagements.” Additionally, multiplayer will include dedicated Gunfight maps, multiple Big War maps built for vehicle and infantry combat, and Kill Block, a dynamic battleground with more than 500 configurations that reshape routes, sightlines, and cover to keep players adapting round after round.

Xbox and Activision will reveal additional details about the third mode of play, the DMZ option, at a later date but tease it as the “definitive Call of Duty extraction experience: a living combat sandbox where every deployment is a new story.”

As part of the big announcement Thursday, Activision also revealed the key art for “Modern Warfare 4.” The multi-million dollar production process on this asset alone showcases the level of detail that Xbox is striving to achieve with this game, according to Activision chief marketing officer Tyler Bahl.

“I think this is one of the most authentic and cinematic and grounded ‘Call of Duty’ games that we’ve created today,” Bahl told Variety. “So with that, there’s a lot of excitement and also responsibility on the marketing team to really show the level of craft and really bring clarity around this narrative, so that we can lead with confidence and really deliver something special for our audience. As we get ready for any kind of reveal, some of the most important assets to us are always the key art and the trailer, and what goes into those pieces.”

Bahl added: “Just living in this all-digital world, the fact that we still go out to the Blue Moon Ranch, here outside of LA, and still do a multi-million dollar practical photo shoot, just to bring our key art to life, or just to make something that our audience will respond to that really leans into the military nature of the game, but also shows the realism and the humanity that goes into it. I think a lot of that gets lost in the industry right now, when there’s so many easy ways to do things, that we’re still going through this process in order to really bring things to life in a really authentic way.”

Watch the “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4” trailer and the behind-the-scenes video of the making of the key art in the videos below.