The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has rated Sledgehammer Games’ upcomingCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3ahead of its July 05, 2025 release. In the contents of theESRB rating summary, the boardmayhave revealed new freight delivery, No Russian-style mission.
2009’sModern Warfare 2featuredone of the most controversial mainstream video game missions, where players opened fire on civilians in a terrorist attack. Though2011’sModern Warfare 3had its own takeon the shocking sequence, the mission didn’t receive quite as much attention. Since then,Call of Dutyhasn’t done much similar. However, as reported byEurogamer, the ESRB may have just revealed that Sledgehammer Games has a similar mission planned forModern Warfare 3.
Is Modern Warfare 3 (2023) revisiting the 2009 No Russian mission?
As for the specifics, here’s part of the ESRB’s summary on the No Russian-style mission:
“A handful of sequences depict more intense acts of violence: terrorists taking over an airplane; terrorists (dressed as police officers and paramedics) shooting/killing fleeing civilians inside a stadium concourse; airline passengers getting shot on a plane; prisoners shot inside a cell.”
The newModern Warfaretrilogy has, granted, been fairly gruesome and violent in its own right. 2019’s title, for example, featured a waterboarding scene among various other disturbing sequences. Last year’s sequel felt a tad tamer in comparison, but it seemsModern Warfare 3may revisit some of the series’ most shocking scenes.
Curiously, the ESRB notes marijuana use as well. The agency mentions a “move in which marijuana smoke from a bong can be forced into an opponent’s face”. There’s also the usual language, blood, and zombie dismemberment, but none of this is out of the ordinary.
