The technically-still-unannounced Modern Warfare 3 will most likely let you keep all of your hard-earned loot from last year's Modern Warfare 2. The official Call of Duty account Tweeted a "poll" the other day, asking players the following question:
"Yes," and "Yes, when is reveal?" doesn't exactly strike me as a stirring example of democracy, though considering a tone-deaf crossover with The Boys last week, it's pretty on brand.
This feels like a course correction after Warzone 2 flat-out wiped its player's progress last year, leading to assertions from one gamer that Infinity Ward might "never recover from this decision." Obviously this dark future never quite manifested, though some remain sceptical as to whether or not this means the game'll just be overpriced DLC.
In fact, this sentiment's been cropping up occasionally among an otherwise positive fan reception:
It should be mentioned that a yearly release schedule is normal for the series, and cosmetics carrying over isn't any indicator of anything else about the game. Of course, that won't stop people from speculating—and I can see why one might take this as a sign the new entry won't have a lot for gamers to grind for.
But for the most part, players are just relieved and hyped:
A franchise with such a rapid release schedule does seem like the right place to take this tactic now that live-service microtransactions are as common as air. I can't imagine it's nice to drop a payload of cash on one game, only to lose all of that gear in the next. Either way, it's pretty funny that Activision's tweeting about Modern Warfare 3 before officially announcing it: that's certainly one way to generate hype.