Activision has announced a major change to how Call of Duty games are installed and launched. Modern Warfare II (2022) and Modern Warfare III (2023) will now be removed from the centralized Call of Duty HQ launcher, allowing players to install and launch these titles independently.
The move directly addresses one of the most persistent complaints from Call of Duty players: the massive installation sizes that have plagued recent entries in the franchise. Under the previous system, the Call of Duty HQ launcher combined MWII, MWIII, and Warzone into a single interface, resulting in overlapping data and shared assets that could balloon installations to 200-300GB when multiple titles were installed.
Players often found themselves downloading and storing enormous game files even for titles they didn’t own or want to play. The unified launcher meant that installing one game (like Modern Warfare III) would often pull in shared files for other titles, eating up precious storage space on consoles and PCs alike.
With the new standalone approach, players will only need to install the specific games they want to play. This means no more redundant files and a much more streamlined storage footprint. Players who only enjoy the multiplayer components, for example, won’t need to keep campaign files installed.
The change comes at just the right time, as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 approaches its release later this year. By decoupling the older titles now, Activision may be getting ready for a smoother rollout of the new game, hopefully dodging the storage nightmares that haunted previous releases.
The implementation happened with little advance notice, catching some players by surprise. Platform-specific trophy and achievement lists have also been split as part of the change, which has created some confusion among players tracking their progress across titles.
This technical shift could be a sign that Activision is rethinking how it handles the franchise going forward. The integrated launcher system, which was initially introduced to unify the Call of Duty experience and encourage cross-game engagement, created as many problems as it solved. The complexity of navigating through multiple menus just to access a specific game mode frustrated many players.
Welcome back storage space
Warzone, the free-to-play battle royale component that’s been closely tied to each mainline release since 2020, might also be split apart even further in future updates. Rumor has it that when Black Ops 6 drops, Warzone could lose MWII and MWIII content, making things even simpler.
For players stuck with limited storage on their consoles or PCs, this change is definitely a breath of fresh air for how Call of Duty handles its giant digital footprint. As games keep getting bigger and more complex, figuring out ways to make installations take up less space is super important, and Activision is finally listening.
