The multiplayer remaster of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 that has been leaked and rumored for much of this year has reportedly been canceled. According to the original leaks from earlier this year, the game was supposed to launch by the end of 2021 and, at one point, may have been considered in place of Call of Duty: Vanguard. Development rumors for Vanguard painted a picture of a game in development hell, struggling to make the yearly launch window.
The single-player remaster of Modern Warfare 2 was released in 2020 and it was immediately met with confusion as to why Activision hadn’t included arguably the franchise’s most popular multiplayer version ever. Then, earlier this year trusted leakers RalphsValve and Tom Henderson said that the multiplayer was indeed on the way. At one point, there were rumors that Vanguard wouldn’t be ready for its November release. It was floated that the Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer remaster could take its place. Later, Tom Henderson said that the remaster wouldn’t be released in 2021.
Now, RalphsValve has said that the remaster is canceled completely. It’s not clear why the remaster would have been canceled, but the fact that it was never even announced suggests it may not have been taken all that seriously within Activision. It could be that the game was intended to release this year but for some reason wasn’t ready. It’s rumored that next year will be the sequel to 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. It may not be a great idea to have two Modern Warfare 2 games released in the same calendar year. It could also have been the case that Activision greenlit the Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer remaster as a backup for the rocky Vanguard development. Now that Vanguard has successfully launched, it wouldn’t be necessary anymore.
Whatever the reason, it’s unfortunate that we won’t get to experience the peak of Call of Duty multiplayer in glorious 4k or 120fps.
