After five years away, Call of Duty will be coming back to digital storefront Steam with the upcoming release of Modern Warfare 2, the latest in the super-popular shooter franchise. However, be prepared to spend a bit more this year, as MW2 on PC will now cost $70.
The new, higher price was spotted today when Activision released new information about the next big entry in the long-running FPS franchise alongside a flurry of previews from various outlets. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II isn’t a remaster (they already did that) nor is it a new port of the original game (they already did that too). Instead, this is a sequel to the 2019 game simply subtitled “Modern Warfare,” which was itself a reboot of the sub-franchise that started with 2007’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Confused? Well, that’s because it’s a giant mess. Let’s just move on, shall we?
Alongside a new trailer released today teasing the game’s single-player campaign, Activision confirmed what had been rumored for a few weeks now: Yes, Call of Duty is coming back to Valve’s digital PC storefront. The last Call of Duty game released on Steam was 2017’s WW2. Since then, all of the recent Call of Duty titles, including Warzone, have skipped Steam and only been released on PC via Blizzard’s Battle.Net launcher. This new game will be available there as well, and you can pre-order it today on either store ahead of its October 28 launch.
While a game being more widely available is always nice, there’s some bad news regarding its price. No matter where you get it, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II will cost $70 for the basic, entry-level version of the game. This matches how much Activision charged for the last two games, Vanguard and Cold War, on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. And while it’s not the first time we’ve seen a $70 game appear on PC, it’s still a newish trend that will likely tick off plenty of people.
Sure, Call of Duty and other large games are very expensive to make and take years of work to complete, and video game prices haven’t increased that much over the last decade. But on the other hand, the Call of Duty games typically include lots of in-game purchases and other microtransactions that line Activision’s coffers. Plus, after a year and half of terrible press and ongoing internal turmoil after a California investigation turned up horrific workplace conditions at Activision Blizzard studios, it seems like a bad time to start charging PC players 10 bucks more a pop.
Or maybe Activision figures if everybody already hates its brand, why not increase the price now?
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II comes out October 28, 2022 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC. Activision also shared more details about Warzone 2 today, confirming it will be free-to-play and disconnected from the previous Call of Duty battle royale game. It will also be a hard reset, with players not able to carry over any of the content purchased in the past games. Both this Warzone sequel and Modern Warfare II will use a new engine and will be part of what Activision calls “a new era” for the franchise.