Infinity Ward has once again promised that it will keep its skins and cosmetics thematic and grounded in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, a commitment that it has repeatedly asserted as part of the rollout for this anticipated return of Infinity Ward CoD.
The promise came as part of an exchange on X, The Everything App. User Hellz Broadcast Network shared an AI-generated image contrasting the speculative buttoned up, tacticool operator types of Modern Warfare 4’s first season with the rainbow-colored, Nerf-armored counterparts players feel are all but inevitable from season 2 onward. The post garnered 23 thousand likes, prompting a response from the official Call of Duty account.
We got the feedback. No BS. This is all about staying true to Modern Warfare. No clowny skins for launch and seasons beyond.May 31, 2026
“We got the feedback. No BS,” the official Call of Duty account replied. “This is all about staying true to Modern Warfare. No clowny skins for launch and seasons beyond.” This echoes a similar statement from the official Call of Duty account just a few days ago.
The only problem? Activision said the same thing about last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 before introducing premium Fallout TV show skins. The Fortnitification of everything has been getting to us for a long time: Features producer Mollie Taylor wrote about it last August, but news writer Morgan Park has been banging this drum since 2023.
It’s become a popular gripe among CoD’s most vocal fans, and one has to wonder if that’s been accompanied by declining skin sales. Odds are strong that there are well-meaning developers pushing for anti-wack skin promises before a sales or marketing department immediately makes them look like chumps, but the fact remains: Trust is low, and we’ll believe it when we see it.
The frequency and vociferousness of the promises this time around has me optimistic, at least: Activision risks damaging its precious brand to renege at this stage. If you’re gonna let people be the epic chicken from Family Guy or something anyway, the smart play would be to not say anything.
This is a big moment for the CoD empire: Modern Warfare 3 and back-to-back Black Ops entries have proven critical flops, and while they’ve still sold enough to make any other studio’s wildest dreams come true, they’ve underperformed for the juggernaut series, and fan morale seems to be at a real low.
This all comes as Microsoft’s been eager to see strong profits come from its historic Activision Blizzard purchase, and taking it out on beloved studios when they fail to materialize.
Modern Warfare 4 also faces a non-trivial obstacle in Xbox’s continued status as a target of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. BDS has called for consumers to boycott all Microsoft gaming products—including Game Pass and Call of Duty—in response to Microsoft’s business relationship with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Microsoft has instituted a leadership shakeup at its Israeli subsidiary and canceled a major contract offering cloud service support in the surveillance of Palestinians, but the company is reportedly still keen to renew its other contracts with the IDF.
