Skip to main content

Activision seeks identity of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare battle royale leaker

Activision has filed a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) subpoena against online forum Reddit in a bid to identify the person who leaked an image related to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare‘s upcoming battle royale mode, Warzone.

Recommended Videos

The subpoena seeks the identity of a Redditor who goes by the name Assyrian2410 who posted artwork for the unannounced Warzone, According to The Hollywood Reporter. Assyrian2410 initially claimed in the now-deleted post that the image was found online, but later admitted that it was sent to the Redditor.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The filing, which was submitted on February 14 in California’s Northern District Court, requests Reddit to provide information on the also-now-deleted Assyrian2410 account, so that Activision may seek legal action against the people involved in the leak.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The image in question appears to be part of an internal document, which means that it could have only been leaked by an employee of Activision or developer Infinity Ward.

This is not the first leak for the upcoming battle royale mode of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. In November last year, a data miner discovered the map that Infinity Ward will use for the upcoming mode, as well as details such as the 200-player size of each match, Respawn Tokens to revive fallen allies, Missions that teams can acquire from looted tablets, and the Plunder mechanic.

With the season 2 update of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare adding a locked “Classified” option on the game’s main menu, speculation on the unannounced battle royale mode intensified. Players discovered an in-game cutscene of soldiers parachuting out of an airplane, which is the standard way of starting battle royale matches, as well as a wall of green gas, which may be Warzone’s version of the closing-in playing field.

Meanwhile, another player discovered that it was possible to get a low-resolution view of the full area planned for Warzone, which looks very similar to the data mined map in November last year.

The difference in these leaks from that of Assyrian2410, however, is that these were discovered by players themselves, while the leaked Warzone image was from an employee who most likely agreed to some sort of non-disclosure agreement.

The results of the DMCA subpoena against Reddit remains to be seen.

Aaron Mamiit
Aaron received an NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was four years old, and he has been fascinated…
The best Call of Duty games, ranked
Soldier holding weapon in Modern Warfare II.

Few video game series are as influential and popular as Call of Duty. The annualized franchise throws players into fast-paced battles across various historical time periods -- along with fictional eras as well. Call of Duty has taken us to World War II, the Cold War, a modern setting, and even to the future.

Although it's one of the most successful video game franchises out there, Call of Duty's quality varies significantly from game to game, with some fantastic entries in the series, but many mediocre ones as well. But which Call of Duty games are worth your time and which ones should you skip? To answer that question, we've ranked all the mainline entries in the series, with details about why you should or shouldn't play a particular game.

Read more
You might want to wait a bit to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on Steam
A player runs in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 multiplayer.

It's Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launch day, which means potentially millions of players are hopping into the new single-player campaign, the updated multiplayer mode, and Zombies. While posts online about the performance of the game seem to be minimal, there have been reported issues on PC, specifically via Steam.

It's been a common story lately about players being mad at third-party launchers on Steam, and that remains the case for Black Ops 6. Call of Duty's is called Call of Duty HQ (COD HQ), and it's a hub for players to manage their game installs, whether they want to only download certain game modes or launch a specific game. It seems as if players can only switch between modes through the launcher and have to go through multiple menus to boot the game up. In the worst cases, they can't launch the game at all.

Read more
3 new Xbox Game Pass games to play this weekend (October 25-27)
A player holds a dead player as a body shield in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

It's Call of Duty week on Xbox Game Pass. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launched today, and from day one, it's a part of Game Pass Ultimate's game catalog. It's one of the big payoffs of Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Depending on how it performs, it may be one of the most important games to ever come to the subscription service. On top of that, other Call of Duty games finally got Xbox Cloud Gaming support, which required collaboration with Ubisoft because of certain concessions made during the Activision Blizzard acquisition process. If you're an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber wondering what you should play this weekend, the obvious answer is Call of Duty.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Global Launch Gameplay Trailer

After four years, the Call of Duty: Black Ops series has made its grand return. It brings the series' story to the 1990s with a spy-movie-like campaign that sees players investigate a secret, nefarious organization that has infiltrated the American government. While the campaign alone is reason enough to check out the new Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass, Black Ops 6 also features meaty multiplayer and Zombies modes. Multiplayer is as exhilarating as ever, with an emphasis being placed on an "omnimovement" system that allows players to dive, roll, and dodge enemies with a lot more freedom than they could before. Meanwhile, Zombies mode finds a solid balance between old and new mechanics. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is available via PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox Cloud Gaming with a Game Pass Ultimate subscription. It's also on PS4 and PS5.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III technically came to the subscription service in July but was restricted to PC and console play. Now, alongside Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Modern Warfare III is playable via Xbox Cloud Gaming for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. This was a lesser entry in the series with a disappointing campaign, but if you're looking for another premium Call of Duty game to try after playing lots of Black Ops 6, Modern Warfare III is the only other one on the service. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is available to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers across PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. It's also on PS4 and PS5.
Call of Duty: Warzone
Finally, Call of Duty: Warzone also comes to Xbox Cloud Gaming today. This free-to-play battle royale title doesn't require any sort of subscription to play normally, but Game Pass subscribers now have the benefit of not needing to be tethered down by specific hardware. So far, there aren't any other additional in-game perks for Game Pass subscribers, but hopefully Warzone will follow Overwatch 2's lead and add some soon enough. If you aren't using Xbox Cloud Gaming, Call of Duty: Warzone is playable on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Read more