As you’re probably well aware by now, the petition to remaster Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for next-gen consoles (Xbox One and PS4) hit its goal of 150,000 signatures. The milestone was met with no response from publisher Activision, which is a bit unfortunate because the idea of remastering a previous Call of Duty game isn’t actually a bad one.
Despite the technical advancements of recent Call of Duty titles, there’s no denying Modern Warfare 2 was actually one of the best gameplay experiences of the franchise. As the petition so eloquently points out, “the guns, maps, [and] killstreaks were just incredible.” For me, Call of Duty’s multiplayer has always been about the maps and, in my opinion, no Call of Duty game after Modern Warfare 2 has been able to match the map design. Estate, Invasion, and Terminal are just a few that stick out in my mind. And let’s also not forget about the campaing — that Russian terrorist level.
Let’s be honest, though, if Activision were to remaster Modern Warfare 2 or any other previous Call of Duty title, it won’t be for nostalgic reasoning (though that’s what they’d tell us). It’ll be about money. And with recent sales for new Call of Duty entries starting to slow, now might be the perfect time reboot one of the most popular entries in the series to help jump start sales.
Although Advanced Warfare was still the top selling game of 2014, sales still fell flat compared to previous entries. While exact numbers are hard to come by, it was reported in November 2014 that U.S. retail sales of Advanced Warfare were down 27% compared to 2013’s Call of Duty Ghosts. What’s more, Ghosts was a 19% decline from 2012’s Black Ops 2 which, in turn, was a 17% drop from 2011’s Modern Warfare 3 (via Forbes). Noticing a trend here? It’s possible that digital sales or international sales could’ve made up the difference — especially since Advanced Warfare was the highest-selling digital launch in console history — but perhaps the largest piece of evidence suggesting lagging sales is the fact that Activision has been unusually quiet about its Call of Duty sales. There was a point in time where Activision used to regularly boast about record-breaking sales. With Advanced Warfare, there was no specific numbers, no record-breaking day one sales press releases, nothing.
Advanced Warfare may have breathed new life into the franchise with all-new gameplay mechanics brought on by the Exo suit, but there’s clearly some sort of gamer fatigue when it comes to the series. Over the years, Call of Duty has faced increased competition from EA, whether it be Titanfall or the Battlefield series. Returning to a classic like Modern Warfare 2 could bring back some fans who had previously jumped ship.
It’s possible Activision could release two Call of Duty titles — a remake and a new entry — but I feel like that would only cannibalize series. Between two games and the ongoing DLC for Advanced Warfare, that might be a little overkill. Why not take a break from the new releases and give fans something you know we’ll love? Now’s the time, Activision.
