Infinity Ward Vows Modern Warfare 4 Stays Grounded, Slams Door on Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and Omni-Man Skins

Infinity Ward dumped a lot of information on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 all at once on Thursday, May 28. Among the reveals, the studio also shared that cosmetics and collaborations won't betray the game's grounded atmosphere, unlike in other recent installments. On the studio's X account, they tweeted:

Every aspect of Modern Warfare 4 is anchored in the game's narrative. Every feature, every decision needs to feel authentic to what Modern Warfare is, and that includes cosmetics and collabs. We're committed to keeping it grounded and transparent, and we want to hear from you on what you'd like to see in our game.

Later, they explicitly said no to singer Nicki Minaj and cartoon characters Beavis and Butthead, while the Call of Duty Community Manager account promised players wouldn't see singer Lady Gaga, Invincible's superhero character Omni-Man, the kids' characters Teletubbies, or the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants in Modern Warfare 4.

Nicki Minaj actually appeared as an Operator in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, and Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, alongside fellow rapper 21 Savage. They weren't the first singers to appear, as Snoop Dogg was introduced as an Operator in Call of Duty: Vanguard, Call of Duty: Mobile, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.

Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker Seth Rogen is playable in Black Ops 6 and Warzone 2.0, while fellow comedian and actor Dave Chappelle appeared in Black Ops 7 and Warzone 2.0 as Thurgood Jenkins, his character from the movie Half Baked. Other nonsensical additions include:

• Footballers Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr. e Paul Pogba, all of whom are playable in Modern Warfare II, III, Warzone 2.0, and Mobile.
• Beavis and Butt-Head, available in Black Ops 6 and Warzone 2.0
• The Ninja Turtles, also in BO6 and Warzone 2.0
• Several superhero characters from The Boys, including Homelander, Starlight, Black Noir, A-Train, and Firecracker, are available in Modern Warfare II, III, and Mobile
• Lara Croft from Tomb Raider (MW II, III, and Warzone 2.0)
• The T-800 from Terminator (Vanguard, Black Ops 6, Warzone)
• The Ghoul, Lucy MacLean, and Maximus from Fallout (Black Ops 7 and Warzone 2.0)

This shows how Call of Duty fans are used to outrageous cosmetics and collaborations. It doesn't help that last year, Treyarch promised Black Ops 7 would only get "things that make sense" for the game, only for it to add at least a few dubious characters. Granted, they didn't go as far as swearing they'd "keep it grounded", as they have just done for Modern Warfare 4. As they say, the proof will be in the pudding; only time will tell which collaborations and cosmetics will be released after the October 23 release.

For now, at least, the community seems happy about what they saw. The official trailer has already surpassed the YouTube views of previous Call of Duty installments on the channel. In other news, Infinity Ward also promised a renewed focus on the PC version while assuring Switch 2 players that the game already runs well on Nintendo's console.

Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.