Infinity Ward on Whether Modern Warfare 4 Really Is the End of the Saga

“Four, that was of particular importance for us. Not many games get a four, let alone one that has these kinds of characters that have gone through the things they’ve gone through. And so while there wasn’t a long-term plan necessarily for the story specifically from 2019, we definitely are self-reflexive in a way where we’re looking back at the same time as being in the present in order to inform it and make it more impactful.”

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Campaign Screenshots

Having the plot of a four-game series being developed over the course of much of the decade not entirely mapped out is understandable, but what may be surprising is that the team didn’t know where this story would be heading just three years ago after the release of Modern Warfare 3.

“It’s interesting because at the end of Modern Warfare 3, there were some definitive events that took place,” Negus explained. “And because of that, particularly for Price, once you take that action, you can’t come back from it. And although it doesn’t change his core motivations, and in that I don’t think it changes his character, it does adjust how he tries to achieve his goals; the means changed. And we weren’t beholden to it, but we wanted to use it as a way to continue the story in a meaningful way, not go, ‘Don’t worry about that thing that happened,’ but really lean into it and say, ‘Well, if he had done that, it would mean this. And if it meant this, how can we use that to push into new territory?’ And that’s where an alliance between Price and Valeria comes in.”

There’s a lot going on in Modern Warfare 4’s story, and it’s a credit to Negus and the team that it remains coherent throughout, despite having to juggle an extensive cast dotted around much of the globe. It’s a stark contrast to MW3’s limited, plot-light campaign, which introduced fan-favourite villain Makarov in what felt like a rushed manner.

The development time granted to Infinity Ward to construct it was truncated, especially when compared to the three years it had with MW4, and it shows in its quality, but also in its quantity. This is a beefy campaign with a lot of story to tell. So much so that its opening missions almost feel like an epilogue to Modern Warfare 3, as it clears the table ahead of telling its new story. So, in an ideal world, was part of this story ever meant to be in that game from three years ago?

“Short answer, no,” Negus stated. “I think the reason that this story has so much in it is that we had the ambition to continue the legacy character storylines and a very strong impulse to return to form in that, assuming the role of a low-level soldier within a bigger war landscape. And so obviously those characters that we’ve been with don’t really fit that desire in terms of having that perspective. So it was a challenge, but ultimately an opportunity to get to redefine our returning characters and define, for the first time, a whole set of new, young, fresh faces that would give us a totally different perspective. And we combined them together, uniting them by a common theme continuing from 2019, setting up the ‘you draw the line wherever you need it’ that permeates both threads of the storyline and both perspectives.”

This approach is definitely proving a success, with Modern Warfare 4’s campaign receiving widespread praise from fans, and a thank you from the actor behind Captain Price in return to those enjoying it. Have you played it? Did you enjoy it? Let us know in the comments!

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.