Infinity Ward’s latest Call of Duty game reboots the classic Modern Warfare franchise, bringing the company’s take on the first-person shooter series back to modern times. But what exactly does that mean? Sure, it’s “modern,” but when does Modern Warfare take place? In this guide, we’ll cover everything we know about the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare time period, as well as other details about its setting.
At what time does Modern Warfare take place?
When Infinity Ward’s developers named the game Modern Warfare, they really meant it. The game’s first mission takes place on October 24, 2019, just one day before Modern Warfare’s October 25 release date. You can see the exact date on which each mission takes place by reading the text that appears on the left side of the screen as soon as you have control of your character. We’ll list every campaign level’s date below, but in short, the campaign takes place within a single 10-day period. The only exceptions are the Hometown and Captive levels, which are flashbacks to earlier dates.
ALSO: Players say Modern Warfare’s loud footsteps and callouts are ruining the game
- Fog of War: October 24, 2019
- Piccadilly: October 25, 2019
- Embedded: October 26, 2019
- Proxy War: October 26, 2019
- Clean House: October 27, 2019
- Hunting Party: October 28, 2019
- The Embassy: October 28, 2019
- Highway of Death: October 29, 2019
- Hometown: 1999 (exact date not specified)
- The Wolf’s Den: October 29, 2019
- Captive: 2009 (exact date not specified)
- Old Comrades: October 31, 2019
- Going Dark: November 1, 2019
- Into the Furnace: November 3, 2019
Of course, since Modern Warfare’s campaign focuses on mostly fictional events in made-up places (like the fictional country of Urzikstan), these dates don’t really mean much besides placing the game in a vague “modern day” landscape, which its title already did. They are important for positioning the campaign relative to the real-world events it does play off of, however, such as Modern Warfare’s version of the Highway of Death event. The campaign discusses a fictional Russian bombing run dubbed the Highway of Death, which led to Modern Warfare being criticized for blaming Russia for the real-world American bombing run of the same name.
