Narrative director Brian Bloom hints that Activision is planning to extend the story for the new timeline in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
As shared by Charlie Intel, Bloom explained it in this way:
“We think of character arcs as going one way, but they can also fall off their arc, they can go backwards, people can evolve and devolve. All these things, they offer rich, fertile ground to tell stories, and that’s not going to stop. In fact, I would say we’re just getting started.”
The Modern Warfare timeline alongside the Black Ops timeline stand as the two most successful and popular timelines in the Call of Duty franchise, even trumping the World War 2 era exploits of their characters in their original games.
The rebooted Modern Warfare timeline has already seen a lot of changes. The original Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 from 2009, alongside Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, was all about the chase for Vladimir Makarov.
However, for Call of Duty Modern Warfare II from last year, they opted to add a new enemy in a new campaign. Iranian forces head Hazzan Zyani emerges as the game’s lead antagonist, but Shadow Company also appears as a secondary villain, that sometimes works with the player and his team, which should be Team 141.
If Call of Duty Modern Warfare III really was originally DLC for Call of Duty Modern Warfare II, then it may have been Activision’s intent to use the events in Call of Duty Modern Warfare II to set up to the introduction of Makarov to this timeline. Thus far, Makarov’s teasers suggest he won’t be that much different than what he was originally.
But this new timeline could be one where Makarov survives after the events of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. Alternately, it could be a timeline where Makarov is replaced or takes over from his and your true final boss. And there are other interesting possibilities that open up because Activision is willing to extend this Call of Duty Modern Warfare timeline to do interesting and different things.
Well, for now this isn’t a confirmation of an extension to this timeline. But given that Activision may be set towards a fresh start after its deal with Microsoft is finalized, they have the freedom to do all this and more.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare III will be releasing on November 10, 2023, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows via Steam and Battle.net.