Call of Duty has always marketed itself through celebrities, from the live-action trailers of the Black Ops era to the athlete-filled ads that followed. For the launch of Modern Warfare 4, Activision has gone for something more local: a Manchester derby played on a sofa instead of a pitch.
On one side is Erling Haaland, Manchester City’s striker. On the other is Aitch, the Manchester rapper, who supports the red half of the city. The two play each other in a filmed match that’s now on YouTube, posted on Haaland’s channel, Aitch’s channel and the official Call of Duty channel. It’s the latest episode of the series’ “Month of Grudge Matches,” which sets well-known rivals from sport and entertainment against each other in the new game.
The video has three rounds, and together they work as a tour of the game. First, the pair spend time in Gunsmith, the weapon customisation system, and on the firing range, trying different guns and talking through the setups they like. Next comes a timed run through the Mobility Course, which shows off how the game handles movement. Last is a best-of-five match in Gunfight, the two-versus-two mode, here played one-on-one across several maps, with the winner taking the title of “King of Manchester.” We won’t spoil who wins.
Calling this a real competition would be a stretch. It’s a launch ad with a football rivalry wrapped around it. Still, the choice of stars is clever. The Premier League has a huge following in the Middle East, Asia and well beyond the UK, and Haaland is one of the few footballers famous enough to reach people who don’t usually play shooters. Aitch brings in a younger, music-focused audience that Activision has worked hard to win over in recent years.
What matters more for players is the list of platforms. Modern Warfare 4 launches on 23 October on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PC and Nintendo Switch 2. That makes it the first new mainline Call of Duty to come out on Nintendo’s latest console at the same time as every other version. It follows Microsoft’s promise, made while it was buying Activision, to bring the series to Nintendo hardware. Players who bought early access can already play the Campaign and the DMZ extraction mode.
The real test is how well the Switch 2 version runs. If it plays well, Nintendo players get a major shooter at launch for the first time in years. If it doesn’t, no amount of celebrity marketing will hide it.
