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Even before Modern Warfare 3 was officially confirmed, many questions circled around what Call of Duty’s 2023 iteration would look like, leading many to ask is MW3 a DLC?
So we’ve dived into the past two years of news, reports and rumours and separated the fact and the fiction to answer the question once and for all. If you’re still wondering about the status of Modern Warfare 3, then dear reader, you’re in the right place.
Is MW3 a DLC?
No. MW3 AKA Modern Warfare 3 is a full price, standalone release that will not require players to own or purchase Modern Warfare 2.
Even before Modern Warfare 2’s release, rumours and reports were rife claiming that Activision were intending to skip 2023’s Call of Duty altogether, following the relatively poor commercial performance of 2021’s Call of Duty Vanguard. As the months wore on – and no doubt in part to the initially critically and commercially improved reception to MW2, of course – however, it seems Activision had a major change of heart.
By October of 2022, a set of leaks claimed that Call of Duty 2023 would be a campaign expansion to the then just-about-to-launch Modern Warfare 2, and also include a brand new map pack. These reports morphed over subsequent weeks, with some industry insiders such as Jason Schreier claiming on Twitter it’d be a standalone, premium priced expansion that wouldn’t require MW2. While the fact that this year’s game would indeed continue the story of MW2 would remain constant, lots of the other details would change. It would take a number of leaks being referenced by the official Call of Duty Twitter account – including evidence of the game’s logo on an energy drink for a MW3 promo – to indicate the game was going under the moniker Modern Warfare 3.
Finally, in August of 2023 Activision finally confirmed officially that Call of Duty 2023 would indeed be Modern Warfare 3, and set an MW3 reveal event to be held within MW2 and Warzone Season 5 to formally announce and confirm the latest entry in the long running series. We do know that the game will also continue the story set by Modern Warfare 2, including the prominent featuring of series villain, Makarov.
There’s plenty in store when the Modern Warfare 3 release date arrives on November 10 on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PC. In case you’re wondering, we’ve got the answer to How much will MW3 cost? over here.
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