Will Modern Warfare’s “Tarkov” mode become its own game?

A new report suggests that the rumoured Escape From Tarkov-like mode for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II will be available as a free-to-play standalone title in 2023. The announcement is currently causing a lot of discussion in the Call of Duty community.

The report, written by leaker @RalphsValve for WhatIfGaming, claimed that the mode has been in production for about four years and has undergone a number of changes during its development. The leaker says Modern Warfare II will launch later this year with the traditional single-player, multiplayer and co-op offerings, followed by Warzone 2, due out by the end of 2022.

Mode reminiscent of Escape from Tarkov

The Tarkov-like mode, internally titled “Project Nexus”, is slated for release next year. Ralph’s report states that it is an open-world title that follows an elaborate storyline in the continuation of the campaign. The report describes specific characters, fronts and quests, and aspects of PvE and PvP events integrated.

Moreover, Ralph also revealed that Project Nexus development has been “shaky” and has experienced numerous development delays related the 2023 delay of Treyarch’s Call of Duty main title. “Virtually every Activision-owned studio is involved in the development of the new title,” said Ralph. According to the report, an announcement for the new mode could come in August, so we might hear more about it soon.

The controversy

While the mode keeps Call of Duty players excited, Escape from Tarkov players aren’t too happy about the game being so outrageously copied. On the other hand, the mode isn’t out yet and at this point, nobody knows how similar the two titles really are. Nonetheless, the topic sparked controversy even before publication and will likely continue to do so. At the same time, the question of ‘How much copying and stealing from other games is allowed?’ arises. 

Escape from Tarkov is a popular game, but not nearly as big and well-known as the Call of Duty franchise. This makes it particularly easy for the Call of Duty developers to take the best of the other game and use it for their own project. Furthermore, it may well be that many Escape from Tarkov players will switch to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare because of this mod, or the new game that it might become. That could be fatal for Tarkov and its player base. However, it remains to be seen whether that will ultimately be the case.

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