'Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare' And 'Warzone' Season 4 have been delayed due to the ongoing protests ... [+]
2020 is like no year I’ve ever experienced, and I’m pretty sure that’s true for just about everyone.
The global COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic shutdown felt pretty surreal—and still does—but now we have massive protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on top of a deadly pandemic. It feels like the world is going crazy, and maybe it is.
These protests aren’t confined only to the United States, but have spread across the globe as protesters decry police brutality and other injustices. It’s mayhem out there, with police and civilian clashes and the president announcing today in a speech that he plans on sending the American military to break up protests.
Suffice to say, now is probably not the best time to hold a big PlayStation 5 event or launch a new season for a military first-person shooter. Hours after Sony cancelled this week’s big PS5 event, Activision and Infinity Ward announced that Season 4 of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone would not release this week.
Previously, the plan was to have the new season kick off sometime this Wednesday, June 3rd. That is no longer going to happen, as civil unrest continues to dominate the national conversation. Call Of Duty: Mobile’s new season is also being delayed.
“While we all look forward to playing the new seasons of Modern Warfare, Warzone and Call Of Duty: Mobile, now is not the time,” the company wrote in a statement on Twitter today.
“We are moving the launches of Modern Warfare Season 4 and Call Of Duty: Mobile Season 7 to later dates.
“Right now it’s time for those speaking up for equality, justice and change to be seen and heard.
“We stand alongside you.”
As you can see, as of right now there is no specific later date. Just like with Sony’s PS5 event delay, these companies are keeping the date up in the air. After all, nobody knows what’s going to happen next. The White House has been surrounded by protesters. Videos of looting and police beatings are making the rounds on social media. Curfews have been put in place all over the country.
It’s madness!
As someone who used to cover the war on drugs and the militarization of the police, I know this has been a long time coming. Hopefully protesters will convince policy leaders to enact more changes and reforms and those responsible for the murder of George Floyd will be held accountable. Then maybe this can all have something like a peaceful resolution.
But this feels like something that will continue for quite awhile, and nothing is even remotely certain anymore. So be safe, be excellent to one another, and keep wearing a mask and washing your hands. COVID-19 is still very real, after all.
Update: Twitter Users Mock Activision’s Support Of Protesters
HONG KONG, CHINA - 2020/05/27: Riot police round up a group of protesters during the demonstration. ... [+]
I thought it might be worthwhile adding some context to the decision to delay Season 4 of Modern Warfare and Warzone and why Activision is facing backlash on social media—not due to the tweet above on the Call Of Duty Twitter page, but for another statement (below).
Nor is it because gamers are upset that the new season is delayed—though some are understandably bummed out; after all, video games can be a great distraction during such stressful times—but rather because of Activision-Blizzard’s disastrous response to the Hong Kong protests.
You may recall, back in the relative calm and normalcy of 2019, Blizzard banned professional Hearthstone player Chung "Blitzchung" Ng Wai for his public support of the Hong Kong protesters during a tournament stream, revoking all his winnings in the process.
The company claimed that this w
as due to its code of conduct which essentially forbids politicking during tournaments, and later—after a great deal of backlash—issued a half-hearted apology and reduced the penalties for Blitzchung. Backlash at the time included US congresspeople urging Blizzard to reverse course.
Well our collective memory may be short, but it’s not that short.
eSports journalist Rod “Slasher” Breslau was quick to point out Activision’s hypocricy yesterday when they issued a brief statement on Twitter supporting Black Lives Matter.
“Today, and always, we support all those who stand against racism and inequality,” Activision’s statement reads. “There is no place for it in our society—or any society. Black lives matter.”
Perhaps it’s the “any society” which sealed the deal. Breslau simply juxtaposed the headline of Activision’s swift punishment of Blitzchung with the statement, and it doesn’t look great. It’s possible Activision-Blizzard has learned from past mistakes, but the perception is that they were urged by the Chinese to crack down on any support of Hong Kong protests, making the support of protests in America ring hollow.
Whether that’s for or not is beside the point. Supporting protests here but not the freedom movement in Hong Kong is problematic for obvious reasons.
Still, it was the right call to postpone Season 4 of Modern Warfare and Warzone so that’s something.
Update 2: So When Will Season 4 Begin?
Season 4
When should we expect Season 4 of Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Warzone to go live? That’s the big question.
We don’t know when protests will end, of course, but there’s certainly a limit to how long companies will hold off business as usual.
My best guess? About two weeks or so.
Epic Games just announced a delay for its upcoming Chapter 2, Season 3. This is the second delay for the game, though the first that’s due to the protests sweeping the nation.
Prior to this second delay, we were supposed to get the season-ending live event this coming Saturday, June 6th with Season 3 beginning the following Thursday, June 11th.
Epic Games has pushed this back a little less than two weeks. The live event will kick off on Monday June 15th and the next season will begin the following Wednesday, June 17th.
I expect we’ll see Season 4 of Modern Warfare land the same week, though I suspect it will be that Tuesday, June 16th or Thursday the 18th, to avoid launching on the exact same day as Fortnite but close enough to keep the pressure on.
This seems reasonable. The only other big game event that week is the launch of The Last Of Us Part II, but a narrative-driven single-player game about the apocalypse probably isn’t going to impact the launches of multiplayer shooter seasons, so it’s not really a factor.
I still think it was a good idea to delay the season, but I hope it isn’t delayed too long. We need video games more than ever these days given all the global crises we face, and all the uncertainty and stress.
Stay safe out there, folks.
