Call of Duty announces Modern Warfare 3 reveal event for Warzone and Makarov's return

What you need to know

• Call of Duty, the first-person shooter franchise published by Activision, is set to release a new premium title on November 10.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is being developed by Sledgehammer Games with support from more than a dozen additional Activision studios.
• After initially refusing to confirm whether the game even existed and issuing DMCAs to those who did, Activision and Sledgehammer have stepped up the marketing with a variety of teaser trailers.
• The most recent teaser revealed the game's returning villain, Vladimir Makarov as part of a community event where influencers received cell phones and other cryptic materials.

The inevitable hype train for this fall's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launch may have been slow to get started this year but now the marketing machine has gone full steam ahead. Teasers trailers are hitting social media platforms and cryptic packages have started to drop on the doorsteps of popular Call of Duty streamers alike. The official Call of Duty Twitter account has even tweeted out a suspicious phone number that players can text to become an activated agent for an Unknown Caller, with those who text READY to the number receiving screenshot teasers of in-game 'intel'.

In addition to the cryptic texts and strange care packages for influencers that included an ominous bar of Soap with something lodged inside, Activision and Sledgehammer Games also unveiled a brand-new trailer revealing the return of everybody's favorite villain Vladimir Makarov from the original Modern Warfare trilogy. 

Makarov is known as a brutal zero-sum terrorist and was a primary character in the controversial No Russian mission from 2009's Modern Warfare 2 entry where players were tasked with participating in a false flag terrorist event in an airport. The mission was deemed so disturbing, even for Call of Duty, that Infinity Ward placed a disclaimer at the start of the campaign that would allow players to choose to skip the mission with no penalty.

Activision and Sledgehammer Games have confirmed that a reveal event for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will take place within Call of Duty: Warzone on August 17. There has not yet been any confirmation or acknowledgement as to whether they will hold a Call of Duty NEXT showcase this year, similar to the one held in 2022 for Modern Warfare 2 and the launch of Warzone 2.0.