People are convinced they can hear 'Modern Warfare 4' in this video from a Call of Duty event

It's been eight years since the last Modern Warfare shooter, but the 2019 edition of Call of Duty may take the series back there—that's the rumor making the rounds after a video of four US football players getting an early preview of the game turned up on YouTube. 

Four players—Riley Ridley, Christian Miller, Jacques Patrick, and Tajaé Sharpe—posted about the event on Instagram, and were able to avoid revealing anything about it (except that it's "super cool" and "lit"). But a short video clip of the play session, slowed for clarity, has an awful lot of people convinced that someone in the background says the words "killstreak" and—here's the big one—"Modern Warfare 4." 

What do you think?

Personally, I'm not convinced. One of the comments on YouTube says it's "probably just pareidolia," and after googling what that is, I'm inclined to agree: I hear the words because I'm seeing the subtitles. Even with that I don't really pick up "modern," just "warfare 4," and after I took a break and then listened without watching, it was much more difficult to pick up anything coherent.

On the other hand, years of that rock-and-roll music has destroyed my hearing, so maybe the words clearer than my decrepit 'drums are able to detect. Either way, the odds of a return to Modern Warfare look pretty good at this point. As noted by GamesRadar, this isn't the first time that Modern Warfare rumors have surfaced, and Activision Blizzard CFO Dennis Durkin hinted at a blast from the past of some sort during a February earnings call, describing it as "a great step forward in the franchise that is also rooted in some of the franchise's most important history." And unlike last year's Black Ops 4, the 2019 game will have a singleplayer campaign.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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