Modern Warfare 2 Remastered got a surprise launch on PS4 yesterday, much to fans' delight. While a ton of players are digging through one of the more successful Call of Duty campaigns again, others are left with a nagging quest: What happened to the multiplayer portion?
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare may have reinvented the series for last-generation consoles, but Modern Warfare 2 is where Call of Duty became a household name. For millions, the multiplayer modes on offer kept them occupied for an entire decade. The game even had an interesting addition with "Spec Ops," a co-op campaign of sorts. Why would Activision leave all of this out?
If it wasn't obvious, last year's Modern Warfare is the main reason. In a blog on its official website, Activision explains, "Beginning with Modern Warfare last year, the focus has been to bring players together seamlessly in one unified online multiplayer playground." This was accomplished through cross-play, a first for a series and one that has greatly expanded the player pool.
In addition to having a hot new game it would rather sell, Warzone recently launched for free and is a second product Activision has to maintain. In reality, that is another mode for Modern Warfare, but there is some logic here. Players don't need to own the base game and Activision has to produce separate balance updates for it, so bringing a third game into the fray would be a ton of work.
So what does that mean for Modern Warfare 2's specific multiplayer maps? "Rather than release a separate, multiplayer experience as a standalone pack," the update states, "Activision and Infinity Ward are looking to bring more classic map experiences to new life within the Modern Warfare universe as it continues to grow and build over time."
This is sort of what I expected after learning of the exclusion of multiplayer. Activision may have recreated the entirety of Call of Duty 4 a few years back, but the then-current Call of Duty title was some futuristic shooter. Mixing Modern Warfare maps into that game would have been awkward. This time, it makes more sense to just include MW2 maps in the new game.
It's still disappointing, but not nearly as disappointing as the PS4 timed exclusivity.
Source: Activision