The sequel to Black Ops Cold War (2020) is currently slated for fall 2024, but details about a Black Ops 2 (2012) remaster have already surfaced, providing content on the new Call of Duty cycle moving forward. Although Modern Warfare 3 hasn’t even launched yet, the future of COD couldn’t be more exciting.
How Call of Duty Titles Get Remastered, Moving Forward
Activision hasn’t expressed much interest in remastering full fledged Call of Duty titles over the years, as COD 4 (2007) and the campaign from Modern Warfare 2 (2009) are the only releases they’ve published. Rumors in 2018 suggested that Sony and Activision signed a deal to remaster the original Modern Warfare trilogy, with plans to release each game 30 days early on Playstation. The first Modern Warfare and just the single player from the second one were released, while plans for a Modern Warfare 3 (2011) were either cancelled or never planned to begin with.
As plans for Call of Duty shifted with the beginning of the Warzone era, it looks like the chances of seeing older Call of Duty titles remastered are slim to none. The 20 year anniversary of the franchise happens to be this fall, which has paved the way for all 16 original MW2 2009 maps to serve as the complete multiplayer experience for Modern Warfare 3. While we have seen dozens of multiplayer maps remastered in different COD titles over the years, never have we seen a bundle of maps released on the scale of what we’re getting this fall.
The New Annual Call of Duty Schedule
Earlier this year, gaming insiders reported that Call of Duty is moving to a new release schedule that has been called the “Tick and Tock” cycle. This new cycle has already taken effect, as Modern Warfare 2 (2022) served as a tick, while the upcoming Modern Warfare 3 is the tock, expanding on the game that came before it and is a direct sequel to the previous campaign. “Carry Forward” is a new feature allowing players to bring their inventory of weapons, cosmetics and unlocks from MW2 into MW3, which is likely to become a standard for every other Call of Duty title moving forward.
While we’re about to see back to back Modern Warfare titles, fans can’t help but speculate that we’re also going to see back to back Black Ops games release in 2024 and 2025 respectively. The sequel to Black Ops Cold War from Treyarch is currently rumored to release in fall of 2024. A Call of Duty title that’s similar to Modern Warfare 3 and serves as a sequel to Black Ops 2024 with the carry forward feature is more than likely the title we see in fall of 2025.
When is Black Ops 2 Remastered Releasing
According to a new rumor, Call of Duty 2025 IS indeed going to be another Black Ops title, serving as the “Tock” to Black Ops 2024’s “Tick” which not only contains the carry forward feature, but also every Black Ops 2 multiplayer map available at launch. This release would be extremely similar to Modern Warfare 3, as the launch multiplayer content contains the entire library of maps from an older title, plus more.
Although this wouldn’t be a FULL Black Ops 2 remaster with Campaign, it’ll still be all 15 multiplayer maps on a brand new engine, with new weapons and gameplay mechanics. Black Ops 2025 having all BO2 multiplayer maps allows Treyarch to focus on actual new maps, or remasters from other titles for the 2024 title, while saving the long awaited Black Ops 2 maps for the year after. It’s perfect timing after all, since Black Ops 2 (2012) took place in the year 2025, so why not shed light on all of it’s maps when our calendars also say 2025.
What About The Black Ops 2 Zombies Maps
It’s no surprise that Zombies Chronicles, a map pack for Black Ops 3, quickly became one of the best selling map packs in history, as it contained 8 classic zombie maps on the Black Ops 3 engine. While the map pack cost fans $29.99, it led to one of the healthiest and popular periods of time for the zombies community. Black Ops 4 easily paved the way for a Zombies Chronicles 2 to happen at a certain point, but with DLC maps becoming free with Modern Warfare (2019), the method in which a bundle of remastered zombie maps could release has become a mystery.
Black Ops 2025 has a golden opportunity to feature not just a plethora of remastered multiplayer maps at launch, but even a grand selection of Zombie maps. Tranzit, Die Rise and Buried are the only old school Treyarch zombie maps that have yet to see any form of remaster on current gen platforms, which also were maps we saw in Black Ops 2. Chances are high that not only do we see the Victis maps remade on a new engine, but possibly even more maps that would be turning around eight years old by time Black Ops 2025 rolls around, such as Shadows of Evil or Der Eisendrache. Whose to say we can’t get a few Zombie remakes at launch, with others to follow with free seasonal drops.
The 1996 David Mason Campaign
Some fans were shocked to know that David Mason is actually older than Captain Price during the events of Black Ops 2, while he’d also been serving in the military for more than 20 years, beginning his journey in 1996. With Black Ops 2024 being rumored to take place in the 90s, focusing on the Gulf and Iraq wars, there’s potential for us to see the beginning of David Mason’s time in the military, while that could also be saved for the direct sequel in 2025. Neither Black Ops 3 or 4 followed up on the narrative with David Mason or Menendez, while there’s still a gap of 30 years where Alex Mason was missing which can always be explored in either of the two upcoming Black Ops titles.
Sledgehammer Games and Their New Role
Modern Warfare 3 is being led yet again by Sledgehammer Games, which is poetic considering their role with the original Modern Warfare 3 in 2011. It’s been speculated that their new role behind the scenes is to release the sequel titles every other year, following up on each new game from Infinity Ward and Treyarch. With help from every major studio, this would mean Sledgehammer’s role would be to develop the “tock” to every “tick” and create a new campaign, and remaster a ton of original multiplayer maps. If this isn’t the case, then we could be seeing two years of Infinity Ward content, then two years of Treyarch content, but what after? Call of Duty Vanguard may have been Sledgehammer’s last independent title, unless plans change by 2025.
For more information on the rumored Black Ops 2 remaster, and what changes we’re going to see with the COD cycle, checkout this video:
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