Modern Warfare 4 won't have 'clowny' crossover skins, Call of Duty team says

Call of Duty's social media account said we can call out Modern Warfare 4 if it has goofy skins

In the shadow of Fortnite’s success, many rival live-service shooters have started pumping out enough DLC crossover skins to make Ready Player One fans blush. The Call of Duty series is no exception. However, according to the franchise’s X account, the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will buck this trend. Well, at least as far as goofy skins are concerned.

In response to getting made fun of on the internet, a Call of Duty social media manager wrote that the new entry will be about “staying true to Modern Warfare” and promised “no clowny skins for launch and seasons beyond.” The series’ Studio Community’s account chimed in as well: “No Lady Gaga. No Omni-Man. No Teletubbies. No SpongeBob. Keep the receipts.”

The last several Call of Duty entries have gone all-in on the meta fiction crossover craze. Starting with 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which featured marginally more self-serious characters like Billy from Saw and Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, things would get increasingly over-the-top: real-life humans like Kevin Durant and Nicki Minaj could be spotted next to Skeletor and Ash from The Evil Dead. There’s also been Burger King, Dune, Beavis & Bud-Head, Godzilla, the WWE, and Zeon’s MS-06S Zaku II; almost nothing has been off limits.

To put it mildly, many fans have not been happy about the excessive crossovers. After Activision announced that Black Ops 6’s particularly ridiculous lineup of tie-ins (which included characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, American Dad, and Squid Game) was going to transfer over to Black Ops 7, Treyarch eventually backpedaled following player pushback. The company wrote that these skins wouldn’t transfer over because the game needed to “feel authentic to Call of Duty and its setting.” Of course, Black Ops 7 would go on to include tie-ins to Monster Energy, Little Caesars, Robocop, Fallout, and, for some reason, the 1998 stoner comedy Half Baked. Terry Crews was there too.

While these promises of no “clowny” skins likely mean Modern Warfare 4 tie-ins won’t be quite as absurd as with Black Ops 6, the wording doesn’t preclude the game from including crossover skins as long as they stay “true to Modern Warfare,” which is obviously very subjective. On top of this, all supported existing skins will remain in the ongoing Call of Duty: Warzone, showing that this more “serious” focus isn’t a series-wide initiative. Following the May 28 reveal of Modern Warfare 4, Infinity Ward has teased other changes in response to series controversy, like Modern Warfare 3’s much-maligned movement. We’ll find out just how well the company’s statements age after Modern Warfare 4 is released this October.