When Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 arrives later this October, it will bring a new and highly requested option to the franchise’s popular battle royale spin-off Warzone. For the first time ever in series history, players will be given the option to toggle whether they want to see cosmetic items from past CoD games, which include many silly and odd crossover skins.
On September 24, Activision announced that a new “Operator Skin toggle” feature will be added to Warzone starting with season one of Modern Warfare 4. The official blog also confirmed that “Carry Forward” will continue, letting players bring over previously earned skins and cosmetic items from past CoD games into Warzone. But now, players who don’t want to see those older, sometimes very silly skins will have an option to turn them off while playing.
When activated, this new skin toggle setting (weird phrase to write) will replace any operators or skins other players are using in Warzone that come from a past CoD game, like Black Ops 6. Their skins will be replaced on your end with default MW4-appropriate cosmetics. This option will apply to enemy players, friends, and squadmates both in match and in the lobby screen.
Activision explained that this new feature will not hide your wacky skin on your end. So if you own Stan from American Dad from a past CoD game and join someone’s Warzone session who has the toggle on, they’ll see you as a generic soldier, but you’ll still be Stan from American Dad on your own screen.
This toggle will be turned off by default, according to Activision.
“Over the last few years, Call of Duty: Warzone has brought together Operators, weapons, and experiences from across recent Call of Duty titles in one shared experience,” explained Activision in the blog post. “We know some players enjoy that variety, while others would prefer Call of Duty: Warzone feel more aligned with the world of the latest release, including the upcoming Modern Warfare 4. With the launch of the next chapter of Call of Duty: Warzone, we aim to support both player preferences.”
This is a polite and short way of referencing the years-long pushback from fans over crossover skins and weird, goofy cosmetics. Both Battlefield and Call of Duty have been forced to address player concerns about silly skins. However, this is the first time either franchise has included a skin toggle, an option fans have long requested, but which many assumed wouldn’t be added, as it would presumably make skins less valuable to players if others can turn them off. It seems Activision has done the math and, likely desperate to overcome the blunder that was last year’s Black Ops 7 as well as a general sense of franchise fatigue, is adding the skin toggle option to Warzone later this year.
The question now is: What happens if Modern Warfare 4 adds some silly skins? Activision’s blog only suggests MW4 skins will be allowed with the toggle on. I’ve reached out to Activision for more information on the filter and how it would work if MW4 adds a goofy skin like Stan from American Dad. The publisher has claimed those kinds of skins aren’t in the cards for MW4, but well, promises are only good until they are broken, you know?