Infinity Ward has announced that Modern Warfare II will feature an “older” map from Call of Duty history. Multiplayer design director Jeff Smith spoke Dexerto about it recently, saying that Call of Duty League testers have been testing it and it’s now almost ready for release.
“We’re bringing back an older one that some of the (Call of Duty League) guys really liked when they were in our office. We’ve changed her, and it’s going to be pretty soon,” Smith said.
Some have criticized the Call of Duty franchise and others in the multiplayer space for bringing back old maps instead of creating new ones, but Smith doesn’t see it that way.
“Honestly, there’s good, fun gameplay. It’s kind of silly not to… rely on the strengths of these cards. It’s kind of like a broken record, but it’s also a balance between brand new things and something familiar.”
Smith went on to say that when Infinity Ward creates brand new maps, people often tell the studio that they still like the old ones better.
“It almost feels like it takes a while to get used to something new. Then all of a sudden two years later they’re like, “Oh man, Hackney Yard was a great map,” but at launch you’re like, “That was crap.” You make these memories with your friends and eventually you have these rose-colored glasses of these cards.”
Infinity Ward has already brought back the Shoothouse and Shipment maps for Modern Warfare II, albeit with a number of updates and changes. Smith said that the general idea behind Modern Warfare II is for Infinity Ward to create new content, “not just a bunch of rehashed maps.”
There’s no word on what the classic map will be or when it will be released, but keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest news.
The Call of Duty series will continue with a new release this year, and this rumored to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Looking ahead, Activision studio Treyarch will reportedly take the helm and lead the development of a new Call of Duty game in 2024. The alleged concept art was leaked in 2022.
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