Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 release date reveal: What we know so far

History suggests Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty game for 2019, which is believed to be Modern Warfare 4, will be revealed sometime this month.

Activision has yet to confirm the existence of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, but there has been plenty of rumors and speculation — not to mention some very strong hints — pointing to it being this year’s game. Infinity Ward is the studio in charge of this year’s Call of Duty, but Activision typically sticks to the same marketing schedule for each game in the franchise, regardless of which studio is developing the game.

So if we want to know when to expect the new Call of Duty — which is strongly believed to be Modern Warfare 4 — to be announced, or when it will be released, it’s best if we look at the publisher’s past record.

For starters, the Modern Warfare sub-series began with Call of Duty 4, which launched in November 2007. Typically, November is when the new installment in Call of Duty releases. In fact, every game in the franchise dating back to 2006’s Call of Duty 3 was released in the first week of November (Call of Duty and Call of Duty 2 both launched in October).

While an early November 2019 release date seems pretty obvious, Activision and Treyarch threw a curveball at us last year by releasing Black Ops 4 on October 12, 2018. This was the earliest Activision has launched a new Call of Duty game. Black Ops 4 sold pretty well, so it’ll be interesting to see if Activision sticks to this new window or reverts back to early November.

Black Ops 4 still has two more seasons of content planned which will take us to fall, or right up to when Activision will begin heavily marketing Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty. Fall technically begins in late September, which could be when we get the final content for Black Ops 4. That would put us right in line for a late October or early November launch for Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty.

But what about the reveal? When will we find out if 2019’s Call of Duty is, indeed, Modern Warfare 4? Judging by the past, we should find out sometime this month. If you look at the publisher’s history, Activision typically begins dropping hints for a new Call of Duty game in May.

Modern Warfare 3 received its first gameplay trailer on May 23, 2011. Black Ops 2 was first revealed on April 23, 2012.

Ghosts had a slower rollout with Activision teasing its reveal through a social media mosaic campaign that began on April 29, 2013. This culminated in the release of a live-action teaser on May 1, 2013, which confirmed the game’s title. Ghosts was officially unveiled at the Xbox Reveal event on May 21, 2013.