Call of Duty 2023 — Rumors, leaks, and what we know

Summer is out in full force, and there has still been surprisingly little confirmed about the 2023 premium Call of Duty title which is due this fall. Typically, by now Activision and the lead development studio have at least confirmed that a game is on the way, we may even have a title. For Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 summer saw a massive reveal that involved Activision creating a puzzle face of Ghost on docks and boats.  

There has been plenty of speculation that there wouldn’t be a premium title for the fall of 2023, breaking the annual Call of Duty release schedule that has been so predictable you could set a clock by it. The idea was that this break in the annual release would give Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 (2022) and Warzone sequel a little breathing room. 

Prominent leakers in the COD community began to whisper about the potential content that would fill the void of Call of Duty 2023, and the community came to rest on the idea that Sledgehammer Games (Call of Duty: Vanguard) would lead the development on a standalone expansion intended to continue the story set into motion by Modern Warfare 2 (2022). 

As the post-launch seasonal content for Modern Warfare 2 continued on, there were rumblings that the development was moving towards Call of Duty 2023 being a full release premium title and that it may even be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3—though any confirmation to that point has yet to be seen. 

Call of Duty 2023: Reveal and release date

Like everything else surrounding Call of Duty 2023, there has been no official reveal, no announcement, or release date. The closest we have come so far is one tweet acknowledging its impending existence on the official Call of Duty twitter account as part of a poll regarding Operator bundles and blueprints. 

Even in the face of an uncertain future following a merger between Xbox and Call of Duty publisher Activision, there is one thing that the Call of Duty team appreciates: routine. Call of Duty titles, barring a few rare exceptions, traditionally launch on the second Tuesday of November which would give Call of Duty 2023 a release date of November 10, 2023. That date is not set in stone, however, as Modern Warfare 2 was previously bumped up to October 28 and then surprisingly gave early access to the campaign in addition to the earlier release.  

COD 2023 is suspected to be developed by Sledgehammer Games—most known for releasing Call of Duty: Vanguard, Call of Duty: WW2, and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Sledgehammer Games rose to prominence and earned a spot as one of the lead support studios after providing support for Infinity Ward during the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2010) which makes their involvement on COD 2023 feel a little more full circle. 

Many were surprised to hear of Sledgehammer’s involvement on COD 2023 as the usual developer rotation was Infinity Ward (Modern Warfare sub-series) followed by Treyarch (Black Ops sub-series) followed by Sledgehammer Games. This rotation allows each developer 3 years between premium releases, though Sledgehammer would only have 2 between Vanguard and COD 2023 if the rumors are true. Additionally, Sledgehammer Games’ last Call of Duty entry was considered to be an underperformer for the franchise even as it topped sales charts for the year it was released.  

Call of Duty 2023: Gameplay

We don’t even have an official title for COD 2023, but data miners and leakers don’t let that stop them from sharing a deluge of info only to be DMCA’d by Activision in short order. Of course, take anything short of official confirmation with a grain of salt, as things can change rapidly in a game’s pre-reveal era but there are a few things we are expecting to see when COD 2023 is revealed. 

When it comes to game modes COD 2023 is rumored to have the single player campaign that will build upon the events of Modern Warfare 2 (2022), traditional PvP multiplayer, and a zombies mode based upon Outbreak from Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.

A return to Outbreak for Zombies mode may elicit mixed feelings among Xbox and PC players of the franchise despite the overall opinion that Outbreak was a fresh take on the series’ horde mode. Outbreak was notably locked behind Playstation exclusivity for an entire year following the release of Black Ops Cold War. 

The dreaded exclusivity period ended just shy of the release of Call of Duty: Vanguard and players who shifted from Black Ops to Vanguard may have opted to skip trying the mode in its entirety at that point seeing it as a lost cause as any limited time events or rewards were effectively Playstation only. 

With regard to multiplayer there have only been a few leaks—which were promptly hit with copyright strikes by Activision—regarding changes that were being made to the Perk system as well as some potential weapons that could be found in the game. According to COD leakers on Twitter, players can expect the perks to be revamped into gear for COD 2023 including perks pertaining to the helmet, gloves, and boots. 

The community’s beloved Ninja perk is rumored to be making a return, as well, but as a pair of boots that can be equipped to your operator to quieten their steps. The perk system was just recently overhauled in Modern Warfare 2, and balancing the perks for both multiplayer and Warzone is a seemingly endless struggle for the developers. 

Call of Duty 2023: Warzone and Operator bundles

In the past when a new Call of Duty premium title was released, we all sighed solemnly and said goodbye to our beloved Operator and blueprint bundles as they would remain with their respective title as we moved forward. Rumor has it, however, that COD 2023 will be the first to break this tradition, allowing players to carry operators over. This rumor got a little extra jolt of life when the official Call of Duty Twitter account posted a poll asking if players would like for Operators to carry over with only two responses: Yes, and Yes when is the reveal. 

Call of Duty: Warzone is a bit of a different beast than the premium titles as the game is a living and growing beast where Operators and bundles continue to live on for the long term. Players who have purchased cosmetics during Modern Warfare 2’s lifecycle can expect them to still be available in Warzone even if COD 2023 doesn’t allow for them to carry over. 

Call of Duty 2023: Will COD be on Game Pass?

Maybe in the future, but this upcoming title will not be on Game Pass on Day 1, even if the Activision Blizzard acquisition by Xbox completes before the game’s launch. Similar to the Bethesda acquisition where Playstation had penned exclusivity deals with Bethesda prior to the acquisition Microsoft honored those contracts and players had to wait for them to come to an end before they could enjoy the likes of Ghostwire Tokyo and Deathloop on Game Pass (and the Xbox platform as a whole.)  While Call of Duty is not exclusive to Playstation, Activision and Sony have a marketing agreement in play that will extend until the end of 2024. 

While nothing is impossible, it is highly unlikely that Microsoft will make any moves to dissolve the marketing agreement between Activision and Sony and we can expect the marketing agreement to carry out to completion. Players can expect the 2023 and 2024 premium COD titles to continue to be marketed primarily by Playstation. Additionally, Microsoft has penned a 10-year commitment to continue bringing Call of Duty to Playstation consoles which was recently accepted by Sony. 

Playstation players are also likely to continue receiving early access to betas and extended beta weekends as they have previously in addition to COD remaining on the Playstation platform. Marketing arrangements by Sony typically prevent developers from releasing a game being marketed for Playstation from being released on Game Pass, and it is likely there is a similar clause in the arrangement between Sony and Activision which would prevent COD from showing up on the multi-game subscription service until after the deal expires.

Call of Duty 2023: Call of Duty NEXT event

While gearing up to unveil Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) Activision and the lead developers decided to go all in on creating a Call of Duty focused showcase similar to those seen during a State of Play for Playstation or Xbox’s Starfield Direct we saw earlier this summer. The 2022 Call of Duty NEXT showcase gave players valuable insight into a game that they’d only seen mere glimpses of up until that point, including actual game play by popular Call of Duty streamers on stage.

While there hasn’t been an official announcement of COD NEXT for 2023, it is likely that a showcase will be the preferred avenue for providing a thorough look at COD 2023. This is likely to be teased at some point in August due to information data miners have found tucked away inside of Warzone.  Activision has gone the route of revealing details about the COD franchise via Warzone before, and it would not be surprising if they do a tease in August followed by a NEXT showcase in September before the game releases in November.