Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Guides
  4. News

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

Aaron Mamiit
By

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.

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.

Related

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.

Recommended Videos

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.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Aaron Mamiit
Aaron Mamiit
Contributor
Aaron received a NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was 4 years old, and he has been fascinated with…
Call of Duty: Warzone devs share the design secrets of the best battle royale map
Overhead shot of Vondel map in Warzone.

The Vondel map in Call of Duty: Warzone is one of the best battlegrounds in the history of the battle royale genre. It's a small-scale, densely packed map with a wide variety of points of interest (POIs) that feel distinct. Modeled after European cities, Vondel is a feat of level design as it simultaneously feels fun and functional. It's a city that you can truly imagine as a real place, with a slew of different shops to enter, a canal, and even a water taxi service that moves throughout the map.

But behind the scenes, there are countless design choices that help the flow and pacing of the map. To get a better sense of just what makes this map work so well, I spoke with Beenox Senior Level Designer Fred Wilson and Lead Artist Guillaume Alain. The duo revealed how Vondel's composition seeps into the players' subconscious, with intuitive design choices that work better than any Warzone map that's come before.
Pacing is king

Read more
The best weapons in Modern Warfare 2: every gun ranked
Soldiers running in Modern Warfare II.

Your performance in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2  has a lot to do with the weapon you come equipped with. Sure, a skilled player can excel with most weapons in the game, but having the best firearm for any given situation will lead you to more victories -- regardless of your playstyle. Modern Warfare 2 has around 50 primary weapons across seven categories, each with different stats, strengths, and weaknesses.

The meta in Call of Duty games shifts constantly as weapons are added and tweaked, so it's always a good idea to stay on top of the latest updates. In this guide, we'll rank each primary weapon in Modern Warfare 2  across all categories (with the exception of the Riot Shield). This ranking is in descending order, with the first spot being the best and the last spot being the worst. We'll also link to loadout guides for the weapons on this list so you know exactly which attachments to use.
Assault rifles

Read more
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III has seemingly leaked thanks to Monster
Five main characters from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II.

It looks like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III will be the title of this year's Call of Duty game. Following several leaks, including an undeniable one connected to Monster Energy, a joking tweet from the official Call of Duty Twitter account appears to confirm that this is true.
Leaks suggesting that 2023's Call of Duty game is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III have existed for months, but ramped up recently. On July 17, the Call of Duty Twitter account put up tweets asking if Operators, weapons, and bundles from Modern Warfare II should carry over to this year's game and teasing that a big reveal would happen alongside the unveiling of Season 5. Later that day, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier stated that this is a Sledgehammer Games-led project that started as an expansion and morphed into a full game.
Then, Monday morning, images of Monster Energy promotional materials connected to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III emerged on Twitter, giving us confirmation of the name and our first look at the game's logo.

A leak like this is pretty difficult to deny, so Activision decided to play along with it. "Whew. Mondays," the official Call of Duty account tweeted. "Anyone have an energy drink they can spare?"
While not a traditional, explicit announcement, this tweet confirms the validity of the Monster Energy leak and affirms that this year's Call of Duty will be a direct follow-up to 2022's Modern Warfare II. Now, we'll just have to wait and see when Activision decides to officially reveal more about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III itself. 
Because it's not officially announced yet, we don't know what Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III's release date or launch platforms are. Still, it's likely that it will launch across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox sometime this October or November after Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition closes. 

Read more