Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is scheduled for release globally October 25th on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

The latest Call of Duty game has been announced and the good news for gamers is it will feature crossplay and ditch the usual season pass. Crossplay and season passes are two pretty contentious issues for gamers but for opposite reasons.

Crossplay allows gamers to play with their friends, even if they’re not using the same console or system as they are. Season passes, on the other hand, can run up to the same cost as the base game and deliver a package deal on additional content at a later date.

While crossplay exists with some games, there are many games that are available on multiple platforms but the player bases are still siloed to those systems. Other games regularly update content and games for no additional charge, there are still many games which charge for DLC and a season pass for that extra content.

“Every design decision has been made with our players in mind. With the launch of Modern Warfare, we’re taking steps to unite the community. First, we plan for Modern Warfare to be played together across PC and console through cross-play support. Second, we’re eliminating the traditional season pass, so that we can deliver more free maps and content as well as post-launch events to all players. This is just the beginning – there’s much more to come.”

Patrick Kelly, Creative Director and co-Studio Head, Infinity Ward

It’s nice to see a larger studio take both crossplay and season passes into account when developing a new game and hopefully, it’ll be a trend that continues across other developers and publishers as well.

As far as the new game is concerned, it’ll be called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and features an entirely new game engine with 4K HDR support, DirectX Raytracing on PC, and much more.

The new technology utilizes the latest advancements in visual engineering, including a physically-based material system allowing for state of the art photogrammetry, a new hybrid tile based streaming system, new PBR decal rendering system, world volumetric lighting, 4K HDR, DirectX Raytracing (PC) and more as well as a new GPU geometry pipeline. Spectral rendering delivers thermal heat radiation and infrared identification for both thermal and night-vision in-game imaging. The technical investment provides a cutting edge animation and blend shape system, while the new suite of audio tools supports full Dolby ATMOS, on supported platforms, along with the latest in audio simulation effects.

Activision press release

The single player story mode also returns and the latest game in the popular Call of Duty series will also feature new co-op gameplay and the usual multiplayer modes.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is scheduled for release globally October 25th on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC and is being developed by Infinity Ward.