Activision Calls Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 'The Epic Conclusion,' Leaving Fans Wondering What's Next

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is being advertised as the "epic conclusion," suggesting an end of an era for the franchise.

In the social copy for the latest trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Activision stated that the game will be an "epic conclusion" for the Modern Warfare saga. It's unclear if this is the permanent end to the current Modern Warfare universe, or if this is just the end of the ongoing storyline that began back in 2019 with the rebooted Modern Warfare.

Although it's likely just a marketing buzz term, the branding comes at an interesting time. Earlier this week, Treyarch design director Kevin Drew stated that the studio was ready to "make something new and something that nobody's ever experienced before." The comments come as the studio waved goodbye to two back-to-back Black Ops games, with the most recent one being regarded as an underwhelming misfire for the series. The comments led fans to speculate that the Black Ops series may be coming to an end, or at least taking a break, allowing Treyarch to make its first new subfranchise in nearly 20 years.

Some fans are already waving goodbye to the current Modern Warfare series. "Reboot it again," joked one fan in a post on the Call of Duty subreddit. "They should do a COD Ghosts 2 or Infinite Warfare 2, both underrated campaigns," suggested another who may or may not be joking.

If Modern Warfare and Black Ops are truly coming to an end, it will be the first time the series hasn't had at least one existing sub-franchise in the rotation since the creation of Black Ops in 2010. Although we don't know what Sledgehammer Games is working on, it is likely a brand new subfranchise as Advanced Warfare and the studio's subsquent World War II games failed to catch on.

The original Modern Warfare series came to a close after just three games back in 2011. Although the team kicked around ideas for a fourth game back then, they didn't get very far and opted to create something new with Call of Duty: Ghosts.

After Ghosts and Infinity Ward's subsquent game, Infinite Warfare, failed to please fans, the studio went back to old faithful and rebooted Modern Warfare. 2019's effort is largely credited for pulling Call of Duty out of a multi-year rut where fans were beginning to lose faith in the series. It also gave birth to Warzone, the massively popular battle royale mode that has helped carry the series since launch.

During the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2026 broadcast, Activision confirmed Death Stranding star Mads Mikkelsen is a major antagonist in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. It's due out on PC and consoles - but not Xbox Game Pass - on October 23.

For more, catch up on everything announced during today's Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2026 broadcast right here.