Modern Warfare III: Call Of Duty is back – and childhood fans are now the ones making it
Whether it’s a cup of tea on a rainy day, re-watching your favourite sitcom, or pulling on those old pyjamas you really should’ve replaced by now, we all have our own homely comforts.
But for a generation of children of the 1990s and 2000s, nothing says “this is living” like unloading assault rifles and lobbing grenades during online bouts of Call Of Duty (COD).
“It’s like putting on a cosy old jumper,” says long-time fan Sam Jones, who started playing in 2007, aged 11.
“And as I grew older, it became a comfort. You’ve less time, people drop off, find different interests, but I’ve still got a core group of four or five mates who’ve been playing for 15 years.”
Shelby Carlton holds a similar fondness for the franchise, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary.
“I started playing COD, actually the original Modern Warfare, when I was a kid,” she recalls, with a belated apology to her parents for ignoring the game’s age rating.
“I’d have friends over and I have really fond memories of playing those games and making those friendships.”
The original Modern Warfare was released in 2007. Pic: Activision Blizzard
Sixteen years later and she’s the narrative director on Modern Warfare III, which releases on 10 November.
Yes, COD has been around so long that childhood fans are now the ones making it.
This one’s the latest instalment in COD’s Modern Warfare subseries, which returned after a long absence in 2019.
Modern Warfare first ran from 2007 to 2011, ending with its own Modern Warfare III. While the rebooted entries have been unconnected plot-wise, they offer plenty of nods, winks, and references to veteran players.
It makes the new game a fitting way to mark the franchise’s anniversary and show how far the series has come.
The first Modern Warfare III in 2011…
…and the new version for 2023. Pics: Activision Blizzard
Ever-increasing scope
“It feels like it just gets bigger,” says creative director Dave Swenson, who’s worked on COD for north of a decade.
“The army of artists, audio people and designers that come together to make the games is pretty amazing and it’s a huge undertaking over several years to create one.”
Despite the annual release cadence, each COD is a multi-year project for the people who make it.
The franchise calls on three main development studios: Infinity Ward, the original creators of the franchise; Treyarch, which birthed the popular Black Ops subseries; and Modern Warfare III’s team Sledgehammer.
There has been a new mainline entry every year since 2005, while free-to-play COD Mobile on smartphones and Fortnite-like Warzone have also taken on lives of their own.
Call Of Duty debuted in 2003….
…and has released every year since the first sequel in 2005. Pics: Activision Blizzard
‘I met my grooms men on Call Of Duty!’
Tom Lynch is one fan who will always hold Warzone in particularly high regard.
He made such firm friends on the virtual battlefield while stuck at home during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 that they wound up being far more than just squad mates.
“Because we didn’t have anywhere to go, COD became a great social setting to hang out with mates,” he says.
“And it put me in touch with friends I hadn’t seen in a while – and then also met people through the game who ultimately became the groomsmen at my wedding!”
Tom Lynch made friends on COD during the pandemic…
…friends who would become his grooms men. Pic: Julie King Photography
Record revenues
Between the mainline series, Warzone, and the mobile game, it’s no surprise that at last count, there were more than 3,000 people working on the franchise.
Sledgehammer alone has teams spanning the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK.
The scale is matched by the revenues, with 2022’s game raking in a record $1bn in its first 10 days on sale.
Johanna Fairies, who manages the franchise at publisher Activision Blizzard, believes the teams have “continued to raise the bar on what ambition looks like”.
“The gaming industry is only getting more competitive,” she says.
“But the annualised cycle has been quite unique to us – to be able to sustain that is a feat unto itself.
“It brings even more meaning to the 20th anniversary.”
COD’s multiplayer has become an e-sports phenomenon
‘An interesting challenge’
Directors Swenson and Carlton are confident they’re on to another winner with Modern Warfare III, which boasts a story-driven campaign and a raft of online multiplayer modes.
The online experience is notable this year for letting players carry over progress from the previous game, while the campaign strives to freshen things up despite an inevitable sense of familiarity.
Swenson is excited by the campaign’s new “open combat missions”, with are far less linear than fans are used to, instead encouraging them to approach objectives as they see fit.
But serving as a direct sequel to 2022’s Modern Warfare II, and also a sort-of remake of 2011’s game, Carlton admits she knew there were specific story beats she had to hit.
Advanced Warfare in 2014 was the first Call Of Duty led by Sledgehammer. Pic: Activision Blizzard
“It’s an interesting challenge,” Carlton says of writing a blockbuster game like this, which begins with an almighty brainstorm session featuring enough whiteboards and post-it notes to fill a terminal.
“You start with the end in mind, work backwards, sometimes you work forwards, sometimes you’re in the middle!”
One nailed-on narrative decision was the return of fan-favourite villain Vladimir Makarov, an ultranationalist Russian terrorist with his mind set on sparking World War III.
Trailers suggest his return coincides with a reimagining of one of the franchise’s most infamous levels, “No Russian”, which tasked players with participating in a mass shooting at a Russian airport in a bid to gain Makarov’s trust.
Swenson and Carlton are keeping their lips sealed on how it plays out this time.
The new game brings back popular multiplayer maps from 2009’s Modern Warfare II. Pic: Activision Blizzard
Real modern warfare
Of course, depressingly, the idea of a new world war erupting from eastern Europe or elsewhere doesn’t feel as innocently escapist as the developers may have thought when Modern Warfare debuted in 2007.
Forget Second World War archive footage, today’s COD writers need only turn on the news to see marching armies, rolling tanks, and toppled buildings that would look right at home in the games.
Creative director Swenson admits his team “can’t help but be inspired by the world around us”, but insists this franchise remains solely concerned with being entertainment.
“There’s real conflict happening in the world today and it’s really heartbreaking,” he says.
“[But] this game is a work of fiction and a story that’s been in the making and we’ve been working on for years.
“As a company, we don’t use this game to make any political commentary or anything like that.”
Read more:
The Ukrainian studio bringing horrors of war to gamers’ attention
COD has found a regular home in WWII, including in 2008…
…and 2021. Pics: Activision Blizzard
Regardless of what the real world has in store over the next year, few things are as assured as COD’s usual October/November release date.
It remains to be seen whether Microsoft’s record takeover of Activision will change the series’ trajectory, but the money involved would suggest a reluctance to stop milking this epic cash cow any time soon.
Whether 2024 sees another Modern Warfare, a return to a prior conflict, or something entirely new, the developers themselves seem to guarantee one thing.
“Bigger” is the only way to go.
Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.
Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.
Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.
Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP
Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.
“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.
“I wish you well on the next journey.”
The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.
Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.
He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.
Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.
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He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.
In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.
The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.
Bruce Springsteen is to release seven albums of mostly unheard material this summer.
The US singer said the songs, written and re-recorded between 1983 and 2018, were being made public after he began completing “everything I had in my vault” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a short video posted on Instagram, Springsteen said the albums were “records that were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released”.
The 83-song collection is being released in a box set called Tracks II: The Lost Albums and goes on sale on 27 June.
Some 74 of the tracks have never been heard before.
Springsteen first teased the release on Wednesday morning with a short social media video accompanied by text which said: “What was lost has been found”.
Tracks II is the follow-up to the star’s first Tracks volume, a four-CD collection of 66 unreleased songs, released in 1998.
Bruce Springsteen at New York’s Carnegie Hall at a tribute to Patti Smith last month. Pic: PA
The New Jersey-born rocker, nicknamed The Boss, last released a studio album in 2022.
Only the Strong Survive was a collection of covers, including songs by Motown and soul artists, such as the Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Frankie Wilson and Jimmy Ruffin.
The late soul legend Sam Moore, who died in January and was a frequent Springsteen collaborator, sang on two of the tracks.
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Springsteen is coming to the UK in May to launch a two-month tour of Europe with his E Street Band.
The shows will include performances at the Co-op Live in Manchester and Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.
The singer-songwriter has sold more than 140 million records since his debut on the music scene in 1973, according to his website.
Entertainment
Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail
A man who stalked Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas for six years has avoided jail.
Kyle Shaw, 37, got a 20-month suspended sentence and a lifetime restraining order on contacting Ballas, her mother, niece, and former partner.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that he thought Ballas was his aunt and “began a persistent campaign of contact”.
“He believed, and it’s evident from what he was told by his mother, that her late brother was his father,” said prosecutor Nicola Daley.
The court heard there was no evidence he was wrong, and “limited evidence” he was correct.
Ms Daley said Shaw’s messages had accused Ballas of being to blame for the death of her brother, who took his own life in 2003 aged 44.
He also set up social media accounts in his name.
Shaw had pleaded guilty to stalking the former dancer between August 2017 and November 2023 at a hearing in February.
Incidents included following Ballas’s 86-year-old mother, Audrey Rich, while she was shopping and telling her she was his grandmother.
The court heard in messages to Mrs Rich, Shaw had asked: “Where’s my dad?”
Ballas was so worried for her mother’s safety that she moved her from Merseyside to London.
Kyle Shaw outside court on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA
In October 2020, Ballas called police after Shaw messaged her and said: “Do you want me to kill myself, Shirley?”
Posts on X included one alongside an image of her home address that warned: “You ruined my life, I’ll ruin yours and everyone’s around you.”
Another referenced a book signing and said: “I can’t wait to meet you for the first time Aunty Shirley. Hopefully I can get an autograph.”
The court was told Ballas’s niece Mary Assall, former partner Daniel Taylor and colleagues from Strictly Come Dancing and ITV’s Loose Women were also sent messages.
‘I know where you live’
On one occasion in late 2023, Shaw called Mr Taylor and told him he knew where the couple lived and described Ballas’s movements.
The court heard the 64-year-old TV star become wary of socialising and stopped using public transport.
Prosecutor Ms Daley said: “She described having sleepless nights worrying about herself and her family’s safety and being particularly distressed when suggestions were made to her that she and her mother were responsible for her brother taking his own life.”
Ballas has been head judge on Strictly Come Dancing since 2017. Pic: PA
Shaw cried and wiped away tears as he was sentenced on Tuesday.
The judge said the stalking stemmed from his mother telling him Ballas’s brother, David Rich, was his biological father.
“I’m satisfied that your motive for this offending was a desire to seek contact with people you genuinely believed were your family,” he said.
“Whether in fact there’s any truth in that belief is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.”
Shaw pictured at court in February. Pic: PA
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Defence lawyer John Weate said Shaw had been told the story by his mother “in his mid to late teens” and had suffered “complex mental health issues” since he was a child.
He added: “He now accepts that Miss Ballas and her family don’t wish to have any contact with him and, importantly, he volunteered the information that he has no intention of contacting them again.”
Shaw, of Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead, also admitted possessing cannabis and was ordered to undertake a rehab programme.
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