Call of Duty: Modern Warfare art director says no loot box system is in development

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward is not developing a loot box or supply drop system, according to art director Joel Emslie. 

Emslie shared the information on Reddit, apparently to set the record straight on the upcoming shooter's microtransactions. While the previous game, Treyarch's Black Ops 4, locks cosmetic and functional items inside loot boxes, that's not the plan with Modern Warfare.

"There continues to be misinformed and incorrect info being pushed about Modern Warfare," he said. "What I can say right now is that we are definitely NOT working on any kind of supply drop or loot box system. Also, functional stuff is unlocked through GAMEPLAY."

More information on progression will be released this week, which Emslie previously described as giving a "direct path to content" to players.  

Black Ops 4 wasn't rife with microtransactions with it launched, either, but loot boxes eventually slipped in with the Operation Grand Heist update. New characters for its Blackout mode were even crammed inside them, contrary to how players were previously told they could get their hands on them. Black Ops 4's design director explained that he provided the information that he knew at the time, before the decision to add loot boxes had been made. 

The introduction of more microtransactions in Black Ops 4 after launch did not, shockingly, go down very well, so Infinity Ward might be looking to avoid a similar backlash, but "not working on" loot boxes is not the same thing as committing to never adding them. Ultimately that might not be up to the designers.