Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Developer(s)Infinity Ward
Beenox (Campaign Remastered)
Publisher(s)Activision
Director(s)Jason West
Producer(s)Mark Rubin
Designer(s)
  • Todd Alderman[1]
  • Steve Fukuda
  • Mackey McCandlish
  • Zied Rieke
Artist(s)Richard Kriegler
Writer(s)Jesse Stern
Composer(s)Lorne Balfe[a]
SeriesCall of Duty
EngineIW 4.0
Platform(s)
ReleaseWindows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
November 10, 2009
OS X
May 20, 2014
Campaign Remastered
PlayStation 4
March 30, 2020
Windows, Xbox One
April 30, 2020
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a 2009 first-person shooter game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It is the sixth installment in the Call of Duty series and the direct sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It was released worldwide on November 10, 2009, for Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. A separate version for the Nintendo DS, titled Modern Warfare: Mobilized, was also released on the same day. A version for OS X was developed by Aspyr and released in May 2014, and the Xbox 360 version was made backward compatible for the Xbox One in 2018.

The game's campaign follows Task Force 141, a multinational special forces unit commanded by Captain Soap MacTavish as they hunt Vladimir Makarov, leader of the Russian Ultranationalist party, and United States Army Rangers from the 1st Ranger Battalion who are defending the Washington, D.C. area from a Russian invasion. The game's main playable characters are Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson, of the 141, and Private James Ramirez, of the Army Rangers, with Captain MacTavish becoming playable later in the campaign. The multiplayer mode was expanded upon from the previous game, with several new features and modes.

Development for the game began in 2008, when it was still known as Call of Duty 6. It uses the IW 4.0 engine, an improved version of Call of Duty 4's IW 3.0. Infinity Ward was inspired by real-life conflicts when developing the campaign mode. They initially tested the multiplayer mode by playing an in-house beta version of the game. Modern Warfare 2 was officially announced in February 2009. Teasing of the game began in March, with short trailers being released for the game and, eventually, a full reveal trailer. The multiplayer mode was revealed shortly after. Two downloadable content packs were released for it post-release, each containing five new multiplayer maps, with some being remastered maps from Call of Duty 4.

Modern Warfare 2 received universal acclaim, with praise for its campaign, multiplayer, and amount of content, although it received some criticism for its short length and a lack of innovation. The game was also subject to a controversy surrounding a playable level that had the player carry out a terrorist attack on an airport. Within 24 hours of release, the game sold approximately 4.7 million copies in North America and the United Kingdom ending as the best-selling video game in 2009 in the USA. As of 2013, the game had sold 22.7 million copies becoming one of the best-selling PlayStation 3 video games and best-selling Xbox 360 video games. In addition to its release, a comic book series based on character Simon "Ghost" Riley was also produced, titled Modern Warfare 2: Ghost. A sequel, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, was released in 2011 and finishes the original Modern Warfare storyline. A remaster of the game's campaign, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered, was released on the PlayStation 4 in March 2020 and April 2020 for Windows and Xbox One.

  1. ^ "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – MobyGames". MobyGames. November 16, 2007. Archived from the original on February 28, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2007.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).