A surprise patch with no explanation

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has received an unexpected update, and on some platforms it is a big one. Activision and Infinity Ward have not published patch notes or a change log, which means the community is once again left to examine file sizes and speculate with the confidence usually reserved for weather forecasts.

The update arrived on April 1 and, for some players, weighed in at more than 13 GB. Console users appear to be dealing with a smaller download, but the actual purpose of the patch has not been officially explained. Given the silence, that has not stopped fans from digging through the results and comparing notes online.

A renewed burst of attention for a seven-year-old reboot

The 2019 reboot of Modern Warfare has been seeing a notable comeback recently. That resurgence appears to have started after the game was included in Steam’s Spring Sale, where its price dropped to just $5.99. Predictably, a lot of people decided that was a fair price for nostalgia, and player counts climbed sharply as a result.

Infinity Ward responded by launching a Double XP weekend for new and returning players, and then followed that with this mystery update. It is not exactly subtle support for a game that launched nearly seven years ago, but it is support all the same.

What players think changed

Without official notes, the best information comes from fan reports and data mining. SteamDB listings show that the game now contains files referencing Ubisoft Connect, which raised a few eyebrows. It is an unusual sight in an Activision shooter, but the explanation is tied to Microsoft’s 2023 acquisition of Activision.

As part of that deal, the UK Competition and Markets Authority required Activision’s cloud streaming rights to be sold to a third party in order to avoid monopoly concerns. Ubisoft ended up with those rights for Activision’s PC and console games for the next 15 years, which is how a Ubisoft Connect reference can somehow show up in a Call of Duty update without the universe collapsing.

Fans have also noticed a handful of other changes after the patch:

  • The original music reportedly appears to be back in the main menu, although some players say it never disappeared for them.
  • Several in-game store items have been removed, including bundles tied to Modern Warfare 2 and Vanguard.
  • Vehicle customization is reportedly functioning properly again, based on player reports.

None of those changes has been formally confirmed by Infinity Ward or Activision, but they do at least give the patch more structure than “large download, no explanation,” which is not much of a business plan.

More support, or just a very convenient teaser?

It is still unclear whether Infinity Ward plans to continue supporting Modern Warfare with more updates. That question matters more now because the game is drawing in more than 20,000 active players every day on Steam alone.

Some fans think the renewed attention is also serving as marketing for the next rebooted Modern Warfare game, which has been heavily rumored for some time. So far, nothing has been officially announced, but a well-regarded leaker has previously claimed that Modern Warfare 4 is due later this year.

According to that claim, the new game would continue the story after 2023’s Modern Warfare 3 and send players to North and South Korea.

For now, the only confirmed part of the story is that Modern Warfare just got a sizable update and nobody outside the studio seems to know why. In the modern shooter ecosystem, that almost counts as a tradition.