Being one of the most anticipated games of the year, fans are desperate to get their hands on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as soon as they can. In a bold and smart move, Infinity Ward has decided to release Modern Warfare 2's campaign a week early for those who have pre-ordered the game, allowing eager fans to get their fix right away. A few days in and this bold move seems to have been the right one, with Modern Warfare 2 already achieving impressive player counts on Steam.

According to SteamDB, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 already has a peak concurrent player count of over 94,000 players, with around 30,000 concurrent players currently active at the time of writing. While this peak player count isn't the highest in Call of Duty history, technically coming in third to Black Ops and the Modern Warfare 2 Beta, it's extremely impressive for a game that technically isn't even out yet, and it could be used as evidence to suggest that other big campaign modes should go early access in the future.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's Steam Success Suggests a Future for Early Access Campaigns

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Over the last decade or so, Call of Duty's focus has shifted quite dramatically to reflect the gaming landscape of the time. Back when the first Call of Duty released in 2003, single-player campaigns were still the primary form of gaming, even though online multiplayer had started to become more popular. By the time Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare released in 2007, online multiplayer had become much more of a focus for contemporary AAA games, with titles like Halo 2 and 3 becoming a phenomenon due to their multiplayer mode.

As online gaming became the norm for the industry, the Call of Duty franchise followed suit, and what used to be the series' defining mode quickly became somewhat of an afterthought. By the time of Call of Duty: Black Ops 3's release in 2015, the series' campaign mode was taking a clear backseat, both in terms of development and player interest. In 2018, Treyarch made the bold decision to axe Black Ops 4's campaign mode altogether, and though some fans were disappointed, it didn't really affect most players.

The campaign mode hasn't been the biggest selling point for Call of Duty in the last few years, but Infinity Ward has found a great way to actually get fans playing the mode. By offering early access to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's campaign if players pre-order, Infinity Ward has gotten thousands of fans through the door already. While some fans will want to play the game's campaign early just because they're hyped, others will want to jump in early to avoid spoilers. It may feel a little non-consumer friendly, but the Steam numbers prove that it works, and those that have played the campaign early seem to be pretty happy with their decision.

While it shouldn't be the norm for narrative-driven, single-player focused experiences, offering early access to a campaign mode of a larger game could end up being commonplace in the gaming landscape soon. Though spoilers are likely to leak before the general public gets their hands on the game, early access to a game's campaign mode is a great way to give players a substantial taste of the gameplay experience before it eventually releases, while also ensuring that they're dropped full price on the title. Though some may disagree, offering early access to a game's campaign could be seen as a win-win for both the developer and the player, and the success of Modern Warfare 2's early launch could pave the way for future titles to do the same.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launches on October 28 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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