UPDATE – Activision has just officially confirmed that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered will launch on its lonesome next week, coming to PS4 “first” in stores and via PSN on June 27th, then to Xbox One and PC at a TBC later date.
Original
If the prospects of the just-released Zombie Chronicles spin-off or this November’s WW2 outing weren’t enough to leave Call of Duty fans salivating this year, then the rumour-mill suggests series publisher Activision may have a further nostalgic ace up its sleeve.
The ace in question? A standalone re-packaging of last year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered purportedly set to grace video game retailers the world over on June 27th, if CharlieIntel’s reports of its shipping to GameStop and other stores already hold weight.
Originally released in a hefty £90 special edition bundle with 2016’s divisive space-bound COD effort Infinite Warfare, the FPS remake resurrected its critically adored 2008 source material in sparkling HD form with both its visceral, refreshingly grounded campaign (“All Ghillied Up” included, naturally) and similarly acclaimed online multiplayer modes intact.
That didn’t save the Infinity Ward developed – and somewhat egotistically-titled, thinking about it – Infinite from underwhelming sales though, with analysts reporting a sales drop of over 50% from 2015’s Black Ops III despite the long-awaited Remastered’s inclusion.
Indeed, it’s hardly a stretch to guess six months on from the 13th Call of Duty instalment’s launch that the special edition’s sales might have outpaced the standard edition’s, prompting Activision’s enthusiasm to capitalise on Modern Warfare’s evidently long-lived appeal.
Whether this gamble will pay off, however, inevitably depends on two factors, namely the veracity of CharlieIntel’s claims and the volume of ardent franchise fans remaining who haven’t shelled out the extra cash for Infinite’s premium bundle already.
There’s certainly evidence in the former regard, with US superstore Target for instance recently thought to have added a standalone version of Remastered to their website listings for $39.99 (£25), but the latter question remains far harder to quantify for the time being, and misjudging the fervour for such a release would likely prove costly to Activision at best.
Expect to hear more from Activision on Remastered’s future – or lack thereof – shortly, but until then, don’t miss our guide to all of the key details on how the COD franchise is returning to its roots with Call of Duty: WW2 this November.