There aren't many guarantees in life, but a new Call of Duty game releasing every year is one of them. Activision has published a brand new Call of Duty game every year without fail since 2005's Call of Duty 2, and with the franchise continuously topping the sales charts, there's no sign of it stopping anytime soon. The 2021 Call of Duty game is the World War 2 shooter Call of Duty: Vanguard, but it seems 2022 will take players back to a present day setting.
This is according to Tom Henderson, a reputable leaker who has accurately leaked plenty of Call of Duty news in the past. Henderson recently made the claim that the 2022 Call of Duty game is going by the codename Project Cortez and that it is "expected" to be a sequel to the 2019 Modern Warfare game. 2019's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was quite a popular entry in the Call of Duty franchise, and with Infinity Ward next up to bat, it makes sense that the developers would pursue a sequel to the original MW.
The 2019 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was a massive success for Activision and it stands to reason that the followup in 2022 will be just as popular, if not more so. It will allow Infinity Ward to work with next-generation hardware a couple of years into the new consoles' lifespans, so it could result in rather technically impressive games that are visual stunners to boot. The game would presumably incorporate the popular features and modes from the original Modern Warfare, but advance the story so fans can see what happens next.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer seasons and the Warzone battle royale already continued the MW storyline in some key ways, confirming that certain characters that were believed to be dead are actually alive. There's still plenty of room for a proper Modern Warfare sequel to advance the plot, though, so it will definitely be interesting to see what direction the story goes in.
In the meantime, it will be interesting to see what the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sequel ends up being called, as a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 already exists. One has to imagine that it will incorporate the Modern Warfare name somehow, but it seems unlikely that it will simply tack a "2" at the end of it and call it a day. It also be interesting to see just how closely the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sequel matches the existing Modern Warfare 2 in terms of story and multiplayer maps.
The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sequel likely won't be revealed until summer of 2022, so fans have about a year to wait before they learn about the game. For now, they can focus on the upcoming Call of Duty: Vanguard, which is set to release on November 5.
A Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sequel is rumored to be in development.