After more than a year of speculation, Activision and Infinity Ward have finally announced that Call of Duty 2022 will be a sequel to 2019's Modern Warfare. Titled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, this game will likely be a direct follow-up to its predecessor, carrying over some of the same characters and plot threads established in that game before being continued in Call of Duty: Warzone.
If the rumors and leaks are to be believed, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 may include some additional modes and plenty of cameos from characters that long-time Call of Duty fans will recognize. Many fans are excited to get their hands on the much-anticipated installment, but they may have to wait awhile longer.
Predicting When Modern Warfare 2 Will Release
Right now, the official word on Modern Warfare 2's release date is only "fall 2022." With fall technically spanning around three months, this official statement doesn't really narrow down the window very much. That being said, looking at the last few Call of Duty releases may offer a few clues when Modern Warfare 2 could release. Starting with the very first Call of Duty release in 2003, every mainline title in the series has landed in this window, but there's been one month that tends to be favored.
The vast majority of mainline Call of Duty entries have released during the month of November. Call of Duty: WW2, Black Ops: Cold War, and the most recent Call of Duty: Vanguard have all been released in that same month. This might suggest that Modern Warfare 2 could release in November 2022.
It's a little tricky to narrow down a specific release date for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, but there are a few hints that point toward potential days. As fans can see from the last two Call of Duty entries, Activision tends to release titles in the first half of the month. It's also worth noting that big blockbuster releases like Call of Duty games are often dropped on either a Tuesday or Friday. Using this as a basis, a few likely dates could be Tuesday, November 1; Friday, November 4; Tuesday, November 8; or Friday, November 11.
On the other hand, there have been some rumors that Activision may want to release Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 earlier than usual. According to some industry insiders, this is likely due to Call of Duty: Vanguard and the Pacific Warzone map underperforming in some regards. With Warzone 2 confirmed to be coming alongside Modern Warfare 2, the publisher may want the whole package out sooner rather than later.
If this winds up being the case, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 may end up hitting store shelves during the month of October. This isn't unprecedented for the franchise, with its predecessor 2019's Modern Warfare releasing on October 25, as well as Black Ops 4 releasing October 12. Even the first Call of Duty released at the end of October in 2003. If Activison wants Modern Warfare 2 out a bit earlier than recent entries, it may come out sometime during the second half of October, perhaps on Friday, October 14; Tuesday, October 18; or Friday, October 21.
Of course, this is all speculation, and though there's some precedent behind it that doesn't necessarily mean any of these prospective release dates will turn out to be correct. Based on everything fans can gather right now, a late-October or early-November release date seems likely for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is currently in development.