Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 gets an October release date

Surprise! There's a new Call of Duty coming out later this year, and now we know exactly when. Modern Warfare 2, the sequel to the 2019 Modern Warfare reboot based on the 2009 original with the same exact name, will release on October 28.

Activision announced the news on Twitter with a weird video featuring boats with art on them. I'm not sure what it all means, but a big boat with a Modern Warfare 2 banner on top of it drives under a bridge, pulls into dock, and lines up with some other banners on land. When viewed from above, the banners line up and reveal the return of Ghost to the Call of Duty campaign universe.

You know, Ghost? The skull mask friend who, in the old game, gets shot dead and cremated before your eyes? Technically, Ghost already came back as a playable operator in Warzone a few years ago, but he'll apparently make a bigger appearance in this new campaign, which might follow a similar storyline as the 2009 original but will mostly be its own thing.

That sounds good and all, but I'm still confused about the video. Maybe these 60 seconds of drone shots tell us more about the game than we're assuming. Does the campaign have a big mission that takes place at a shipyard? If so, Captain Price is probably going to blow it up. Maybe it's a vague reference to the fan-favorite Shipment map that makes an appearance in every Infinity Ward game? Or maybe it's just supposed to look cool.

Whichever is the case, the video has done its job on me. I am excited about a Call of Duty game for the first time since Infinity Ward's last game. Cold War and Vanguard just haven't hit the way Modern Warfare 2019 did.