Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has been out barely over a month, but already the community is talking about next year's game. Widely expected to be Modern Warfare 4, since it's an Infinity Ward year, rumors are starting to fly.
It's never too early for a Call of Duty rumor, after all, we're already hearing that in 2027, Sledgehammer Games will be back in the hot seat with an all-new sub-franchise.
However, specifically to Modern Warfare 4, Infinity Ward, has very publicly hit back at this latest round of Internet chatter.
Happy holidays everybody!Wishing our community an awesome holiday season and looking forward to talking soon.Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. See you in 2026.December 15, 2025
Obviously, nobody knows anything for sure until the game gets revealed. Is it even called Modern Warfare 4? Is it set in Korea, as rumors have said? Is it like the Modern Warfare 2 experience, as has recently been doing the rounds?
I'm not here to add credence to nor debunk these rumors. I don't know. Neither do you. The only people who know absolutely are the people building the game. But reading between the lines, there are a couple of angles you could take here.
The first is that the rumors are wrong, and the game is nothing like what's being talked about. Take it at face value.
The second, more skeptical angle, is that there's an element of damage control going on. With the discourse around Black Ops 7, much of which is skewing towards the negative, is Infinity Ward already trying to win folks back?
With that same skeptics hat on, you could look at this and say, "oh, well, maybe they've listened to what the community is saying, and they're going to make changes."
I'll admit, the idea of another Modern Warfare title doesn't get my blood pumping. I like Black Ops 7, just as I liked Black Ops 6 before it. The last two Black Ops titles brought me fully back to Call of Duty after losing some of my affection for the series through the likes of Modern Warfare 2 and 3, and Vanguard.
One thing I'm going to credit Infinity Ward for right now, though, is getting out there so early. Whether the rumors are true or not, the current state of the Call of Duty community means that communication is absolutely crucial.
It's bad enough that the next game is going to launch at a similar time to Grand Theft Auto 6. The engagement leading up to it is going to be more important than ever.
