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Want Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered? You'll have to buy Infinite Warfare

Will Fulton
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In addition to revealing the next main entry in the Call of Duty series, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Activision also recently announced a remastered version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the 2007 classic that many consider a high-water mark for the series.

The official announcement specified that Modern Warfare Remastered would be included with special editions of Infinite Warfare, and we incorrectly surmised that it would likely also be available on its own. However, an official FAQ posted by Activision specifies that this is not the case, and that “you must own Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare in order to get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered.” Both are set to launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on November 4.

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This means that the only way to acquire Modern Warfare Remastered is by purchasing the Legacy, Legacy Pro, or Digital Deluxe editions of Infinite Warfare, which will include a download code for the older game. This has irked many fans of the series, who took to Reddit to suggest that launch day would see a flood of copies of Infinite Warfare on eBay and Craigslist, sans the Modern Warfare Remastered download code.

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Activision gave us a brief glimpse at the remastered edition at the end of the Infinite Warfare announcement trailer:

Official Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare Reveal Trailer [UK]

A Russian YouTube user combed through the original game for the analogous footage and posted a side-by-side comparison so fans can see how the new version stacks up visually:

[4K 60fps] Call of Duty 4 MW vs Remastered (FRAME 2 FRAME GRAPHIC COMPARISON)

For a closer look, Redditor Cantsaymynamehere posted a gallery of side-by-side screenshots, revealing the extent to which the game’s environments appear to have been rebuilt from scratch, and not just re-skinned with higher res textures:

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modern warfare remastered standalone mw10
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modern warfare remastered standalone mw4
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modern warfare remastered standalone mw3
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modern warfare remastered standalone mw2
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modern warfare remastered standalone mw1
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Activision’s language doesn’t preclude the possibility of Modern Warfare Remastered being available on its own at some point in the future, but gives no indication of if or when that might happen. What do you think about the decision to only include the game in bundles? Will it affect your purchasing decisions? Let us know in the comments!

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Will Fulton
Will Fulton
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…
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