Modern Warfare 2 is Only Call of Duty Missing From Backward Compatibility | Tech News

Modern Warfare 3 just became backward compatible for the Xbox One, allowing Call of Duty fans to eagerly jump back into the 7-year-old title. Interestingly, this now makes Modern Warfare 2 the only last-gen Call of Duty title not available via backward compatibility (not counting Call of Duty Classic, which released much later on Xbox 360 and still isn’t available on Xbox One), causing speculation to rise up once again about a remastered version of (arguably) the most-loved entry in the series.

Hype for Modern Warfare 2 Remastered started a few months ago when Amazon Italy appeared to leak the title, scheduled for release on April 30th. The Call of Duty community was set alight with excitement, only to suffer two major disappointments. First, many reputable sources began reporting that the title would be campaign-only, then second, Activision never so much as commented on the remaster, seemingly content to let the whole thing fade from memory as April 30th came and went.

However, the fact that the Amazon listing was from Activision’s official vendor profile on the site seems to indicate that the game is coming, and Modern Warfare 2 being the only Call of Duty game not backward compatible only adds credibility to the theory. Many fans have begun to discuss the idea online, arguing that the only possible explanation for Activision to hold the title back from Xbox One is so that the remastered version will be all the more desirable when it releases.

While a surprise 2018 release is a little far-fetched for Modern Warfare 2 Remastered, 2019 would make a lot of sense for the rumored title. There have been a number of leaks and reports suggesting that next year’s CoD will be Modern Warfare 4, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Infinity Ward released a remastered version of an earlier title in the same year, just as they did with Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered.

There does remain the question of how Activision will handle the release of Modern Warfare 2 Remastered, if it is indeed happening. In 2016, the company attracted a great deal of criticism for refusing to sell Modern Warfare Remastered separately at launch, instead forcing consumers to buy the much more expensive Deluxe Edition of Infinite Warfare to receive the remaster as part of a bundle. It would be surprising to see Activision willingly draw the ire of the community for the exact same move next year, so perhaps releasing Modern Warfare Remastered a few months earlier to help bolster interest in Modern Warfare 4 is something we might see.

It’s important to note that the existence of Modern Warfare 2 Remastered remains very much unconfirmed by Activision. While there is a lot of substance to the theory that we’ll see the game next year, fans who expected the April 30th release this year can testify to the usefulness of hyping a game before it has even been announced. That said, Modern Warfare 2′s continued absence from backward compatibility is an encouraging sign that something is on the horizon.

Modern Warfare 2 Remastered is rumored to be in development, but currently unconfirmed.