The next batch of cross-over operators was just announced for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Warzone, and it includes none other than Diablo IV’s Succubi queen Lilith and fallen archangel Inarius. Plus a bunch of other horror stars like Spawn and Evil Dead’s Ash Williams. No doubt it will be another bloodbath.

Activision revealed the season 6 operators on Thursday alongside teases for other horror-themed content, including the return of The Haunting event in October. The seasonal update goes live on September 27 and will even include a Doom-themed bundle complete with a chainsaw. Al Simmons will be one of the new operators alongside a host of Spawn-related skins, including a couple for the superhero himself as well as Creepy Clown and Violator.

Lilith, Diablo IV’s main antagonist, and Inarius, the hooded asshole, will be separate purchases added to the shop, joined by Skeletor (He-Man), Ash Williams (Evil Dead 2), and Alucard (Hellsing). I can’t wait to see how they play in the Call of Duty sandbox alongside rapper Nicki Minaj, NBA star Kevin Durant, and the Burger King guy. The upcoming event should make the time go a little faster until Modern Warfare 3 drops on November 10.

For those who might not be aware, Call of Duty has been going fullblown Fortnite for quite a while now, mixing things up with wild cross-overs from across the pop culture landscape. In July it was characters from Amazon Prime superhero dramedy, The Boys, with Temp V abilities like Homelander’s red eye lasers torching every player in sight.

Some have bemoaned the silliness of it all for undermining the “very-serious” war shooter. Others enjoy the changing party costumes, if not always the seasonal grinds and prices that come with them. The weapons at least, like the Doom bundle, will carry over into Modern Warfare 3.

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Call of Duty’s collaborations this year have cast a wide net, ranging from putting rapper Nicki Minaj in as a playable character to adding cosmetics that are based on the Diablo series. Next month, the series is leaning into all things spooky and hellish, and that includes a tribute to Doom, the landmark 1993 first-person shooter. The Doom bundle, available on October 9 for Warzone and Modern Warfare II, includes a shotgun and chainsaw stylized to look like they did in the original game, and the visual effect is pretty cool.

If you equip the gun or melee weapon, your character wields it like the space marine hero of the original game did, complete with a lower framerate that looks pretty distinct compared to the rest of Warzone. It’s nostalgic for fans of the original Doom, but it doesn’t seem to actually get in the way of the functionality of the shotgun or chainsaw, even when the game runs at 60FPS. Your character’s animations stutter a little bit when using either weapon, but it’s a pretty faithful recreation of how Doom looked 30 years ago. It rules.

Buy Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop

The weapons are definitely the standout, but the Doom bundle comes with a few other homages to the series, as well. The full bundle includes the following:

• DOOM Weapon Charm
• Cacodemon & Slayer Stickers
• DOOM Loading Screen
• Super Shotgun Weapon Blueprint
• Chainsaw Melee Blueprint
• Doomguy Gunscreen

Call of Duty isn’t the only game paying tribute to the original Doom these days. Cyberpunk 2077 added a mini-game in the Phantom Liberty expansion based on shooters of the time starring Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Silverhand. Even with so many games paying tribute to the 1993 classic, it’s always a good idea to revisit the OG whenever you can, as it’s pretty foundational to the first-person shooter genre. If you do decide to play it, though, maybe play it on something simple like a PC or console, rather than one of the weirder devices people have ported the game to over the years. Like a tractor or potato-powered calculator.

Now that Microsoft’s purchase of Activison Blizzard has officially been completed, Xbox Series X/S owners have been hoping to see games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Diablo IV appear on Game Pass any day now. But Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer poured cold water on the rumor mill hype in a new interview with the Xbox podcast confirming that nothing from the publisher’s catalog will arrive in 2023.

The expectation-setting comes after un-sourced rumors began to spread that Microsoft might be planning a surprise shadow drop of Activision Blizzard games coming to Game Pass to celebrate the closing of the deal. While the Activision Blizzard account recently tweeted that it did “not have plans” to bring its games to the Netflix-like subscription service before the end of the year, some fans still held out hope that a game or two from the back catalog might pop up before 2024.

“The regulatory process took so long and frankly there was a lot of uncertainty in that process up until, really, a week before we closed, or really the week of, when the CMA finally came down to their decision, that we weren’t able to get in and work with mostly Activision Blizzard in this case on that back catalog work,” Spencer told the Official Xbox Podcast on October 17. “I would love it if there was some kind of secret celebration drop that’s coming in the next couple of weeks—there’s not.”

That’s in contrast to when Microsoft closed its $7.5 billion deal to buy ZeniMax and its Bethesda Game Studios games, including Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, were triumphantly rolled out on Game Pass soon after. Spencer called it a disappointment that fans would have to wait the extra months in the case of Activision Blizzard.

Elsewhere in the interview, Spencer confirmed that Call of Duty will continue to aim for 100 percent parity between the Xbox Series X/S versions and those on other platforms, meaning no exclusive skins or special content deals, as has recently been the case on PlayStation 5. Call of Duty Modern Warfare III arrives on November 10, and will have a Lockpick Operator DLC pack that’s exclusive to Sony’s console, a holdover from Activision’s existing agreement with the PS5 maker prior to the sale.

The new PlayStation 5 “slim” complete with a disc drive and DualSense controller is being bundled at no extra cost with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, according to a new advertisement shared by CoD news site Charlie Intel. The free game comes just a month after Call of Duty officially became part of Xbox.

The redesigned PS5 with a Blu-Ray player is normally $500, while the all-digital version that can be upgraded with a detachable disc drive later is normally $450. Since a new ad shared by Charlie Intel shows the Modern Warfare 3 bundle still only costing $500, it seems like Sony is preparing to celebrate Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard by giving away the game for free. The bundles come out November 10, the same day as Modern Warfare 3. Just wait until you see them on store shelves. They’re really small.

Sony has given away new Call of Duty games before in its console bundles. Infinite Warfare was free with a new PS4 in 2016 ($300), and WWII was free in 2017. However, this is the first time Sony is debuting such a big deal alongside the launch of a slim model, and right after the game just became owned by its biggest competitor. While Microsoft and Sony hashed out a deal to keep the franchise on PlayStation moving forward, this will be the last time the PS5 version of the game will come with timed-exclusive bonus content.

The free game will likely help boost PS5 sales this holiday, in which Sony is looking to sell a record-breaking 25 million consoles by the end of March 2024. That target comes even as Sony’s only major first-party game this year is Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and even as it begins cutting some staff across various PlayStation studios.

The ad spotted by Charlie Intel notes that the deal is only up for grabs while supplies last, and reminds prospective buyers that the new metal ring vertical stand isn’t included in the bundle. It’s sold separately and will cost $30.

A new Call of Duty campaign is nearly here. The full game, featuring campaign and multiplayer, launches on November 10 (see on Amazon), but you can start playing the new single-player campaign today if you’ve preordered.

A sequel to 2022’s Modern Warfare II, Modern Warfare III sends Task Force 141 on a mission to stop Vladimir Makarav from sending the world into absolute chaos (as opposed to just a little chaos, you know, as a treat). Early access starts today on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Windows.

Here are the Modern Warfare III campaign early access times for each region

• 10 a.m. PST
• 1 p.m. EST
• 6 p.m. GMT
• 7 p.m. CEST
• 5 a.m. AEST

Preloading for the campaign is now live.

Modern Warfare III’s multiplayer will launch on November 10, with preloads opening up on November 9 for everyone. The timing for PC and console is a little different for the full release: Modern Warfare III will launch at 9 p.m. PST on November 9 for PC players, while console versions will roll out at these times:

• November 9: 9 p.m. PST
• November 10: 12 a.m. EST
• November 10: 5 a.m GMT
• November 10: 6 a.m CEST
• November 10: 4 p.m. AEST

Importantly, Modern Warfare III will not see the launch of a “Warzone 3.0.” Instead, Warzone is simply known as “Warzone.” The free battle royale and extraction shooter mode (DMZ) will see a new map, Urzikstan, go live with Modern Warfare III’s first season in December 2023.

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Should I play Modern Warfare II 2022’s campaign before Modern Warfare III?

In Kotaku’s review of the 2022’s Modern Warfare II, we found the level design very lacking, without much freedom of movement or tactics. That said, the 2022 release features solid gameplay and a charismatic cast of characters who are hard not to like. The 2022 campaign also leads directly up to Modern Warfare III. It could be worth jumping back in to get caught up on who is doing what. Expect to spend roughly eight hours on the campaign if you’re thinking of giving it a spin.