Ever since Call of Duty: Vanguard's release last November, and even before it, a good portion of the CoD fan base has been eagerly anticipating the announcement of Infinity Ward's next entry in the military shooter franchise. Following on from the immense success of Infinity Ward's 2019 Modern Warfare, which many felt breathed new life into the long-running franchise, it was only a matter of time before the developer announced a sequel. Just a month ago, Infinity Ward's next project, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was finally announced, after months of speculation and leaks.
Today, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 received an official release date of October 28, 2022. While no official Modern Warfare 2 gameplay or plot details have been revealed just yet, fans are already incredibly hyped about the upcoming title, with constant leaks springing up every few weeks or so to keep speculation running rampant.
Modern Warfare 2's October Release Date Compared to Past Games
Thanks to its newly revealed October release date, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is somewhat of an outlier compared to the majority of other Call of Duty entries. When taking a look back at the rest of the franchise, most installments have had their main release at the beginning of November, usually within the first week or so.
Call of Duty 3 was the first to set this precedent, releasing on November 7, 2006. From then, almost every Call of Duty game has released around the same window. World At War released a little later on November 11, while Black Ops released on November 9, and Ghosts released on November 5.
This trend continued up until Black Ops 4, which threw a military-grade spanner in the works. Black Ops 4 dropped on October 12, 2018, featuring the earliest release date in the entire franchise. While this earlier date was a smart move for the publisher, coming out a week before the immensely successful Red Dead Redemption 2, in hindsight, Black Ops 4 could've used a little longer in the oven, with some fairly unpolished mechanics and some seemingly unfinished content.
In the last few years, Call of Duty has gone back to its traditional early-November release dates. Black Ops: Cold War dropped on November 13, while the most recent release, Call of Duty: Vanguard, released on November 5, which turns out to be quite a common date for the CoD franchise. When compared to the rest of the Modern Warfare series, the upcoming game's release date fits in fairly well with its predecessors. The very first Modern Warfare released on November 5, 2007, with its sequel dropping on November 10, 2008. Modern Warfare 2's October 28 release date doesn't quite match up with these older titles, but it isn't too far off, only coming a week before.
Modern Warfare 2's October 28 release date actually matches pretty perfectly with its direct predecessor, Modern Warfare, which released on October 25, 2019. All in all, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's release date is a little earlier than some may have expected, based on prior entries, but it still syncs up with the rest of the franchise pretty well, continuing the trend of a late-October/early-November release.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will release on October 28.