There wasn't supposed to be a new CoD game in 2023, at first they only planned on making an expansion to MW2 this year. But Activision decided to go ahead and package the expansion up as a full game. It should therefore come as no surprise that the CoD 2023 campaign will follow on directly from MW2.
Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 are only really at the beginning of their life-cycles, given Season 2 Reloaded is only just arriving (here are the best guns for the new season, by the way). But, obviously, fans are already discussing CoD 2023.
We don't know much about the new CoD, but we're convinced the story will focus heavily on Ghost. Here's why.
- If you want to catch up with the current story of Ghost, perhaps it's worth grabbing a copy of MWII for Season 2 Reloaded?
Evidence Points To Ghost Spinoff Campaign In 2023
We don't have any official confirmation regarding the 2023 campaign so far, but we firmly believe the story will continue on directly from Modern Warfare 2, focusing on Ghost as the protagonist. We believe this is the case for the following reasons.
1. CoD 2023 Was Meant To Be An Expansion Of MW2
Multiple leakers were saying Modern Warfare 2 would be a game with a two-year-cycle. Rather than a full game in 2023, we were basically going to get a map pack and extra story content. But then we were told that this expansion was instead going to be repackaged as a full game so that Activision could sell it for $80 (a rumor which even the legendary Bloomburg journalist Jason Schreier confirmed).
If we know they were working on additional story content for MW2, which they planned to get ready for Fall 2023, then it makes complete sense they would use this material in a 2023 game if the expansion idea was scrapped. It's also probably the only way they were going to get a campaign ready so quickly; even with Activision-levels of crunch, they weren't going to get a triple-A campaign produced in less than a year.
- Let's hope this makes it into CoD 2023:
2. The Story Of MW2 Clearly Sets Up A Future Ghost Story
As we noted in our review of the MW2 campaign, the narrative focus is shifted onto Ghost as the new Captain Price style father-figure. He is very much one of the new central heroes in CoD, rather than a sidekick.
Not only did Modern Warfare 2 put Ghost in the protagonist role for the first time, but they also set up a future story for him. Minor spoiler alert here, but in the campaign there is one moment where Ghost removes his mask and the camera almost shows us his face. This kind of teasing doesn't just build up the mystique around Ghost, it's also clearly designed to set us up for a future reveal.
3. One Leaker Is Explicitly Claiming The Devs Working On A Ghost Spinoff
We saved the best for last. Ralph Valve, from whatifgaming, is already claiming the following:
An associate [at Infinity Ward] explicitly revealed that throughout development the team had approached Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley’s actor, Samuel Roukin, with the notion of further developing his character [beyond the release of Modern warfare II].
Now Ralph has been wrong in one or two instances in the past, but he's also been correct about a ton of stuff, so we think you can be somewhat confident in this source.
That's all the evidence so far that points to the CoD 2023 story basically being a spinoff campaign for Ghost.
Does the idea of a Ghost-focused CoD sound cool? Or would you rather they just skipped a year like they originally intended?