Modern Warfare 4 director on return of 'Mil-Sim' operators and upcoming Call of Duty's 'gritty' tone — 'We want those characters to feel set in our world'

• Modern Warfare 4 is shaping up to be one of the most grounded Call of Duty experiences in years
• It features realistic character designs and playable 'Mil-Sim' operators
• The lead game designer says, "with the gritty stuff, there's a lot of depth"

One of the first things I noticed dropping into multiplayer Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is its grittier tone and overall art direction. It's night and day compared to the more bombastic and stylized direction of Black Ops 7, populated by playable characters that look much more like modern soldiers.

A handful of the beloved 'Mil-Sim' (short for military simulation) operators from past Modern Warfare games are back as well, giving the most realism-focused players the ability to drop in as anonymous soldiers from the likes of the SAS or Korean military rather than the roster of distinct, named heroes.

"We want those characters to feel set in our world and hit the tone and feel of our world," explains multiplayer creative director Joe Cecot as we chat in one of the many meeting rooms of developer Infinity Ward's Los Angeles office.

Even central characters like Ghost have all-new designs that embody a somewhat more down-to-earth aesthetic.

"Joel Emsley, who is our studio art director, is the person behind Price and Ghost and all these different iconic characters," he continues.

"Every game he's leveling up, and thinking 'how do I improve?' We have those kind of 'Mil-Sim' characters, and then we have Ghost, who's like both 'Mil-Sim,' but now he's got the new mask that he's retrofitted from pieces of things he's found. He's this badass character that fits in our world but feels brand new."

"I feel like with the gritty stuff, there's a lot of depth, and we want to continue to explore that," adds lead game designer Jackie Reynolds, possibly hinting at the studio's approach to any post-launch skins.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is set to launch on October 23, 2026. It will be the first modern Call of Duty game to skip previous generations of consoles, launching exclusively on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Nintendo Switch 2.