Leaked Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 lobby images confirm rumoured Tarkov-like DMZ mode

It seems part of the plan at this point, but a few things from the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 have leaked thanks to a private event with NFL players.

Activision invited the Los Angeles Rams to play an early version of the multiplayer shooter this week, resulting in a few of the players showing content that's yet to be officially announced, before they deleted their tweets, replacing them with generic shots of event banners.

Seems like a step backwards? | Call of Duty Modern warfare 2 Discussion

Watch on YouTube

Nothing can ever be truly gone from the internet, however, so Call of Duty fans anxious for some new information about Modern Warfare 2 saved and analysed the images for all for all of us. The first one of these is a fairly benign shot of the game's lobby, which shows a similar layout to the more recent Call of Duty games.

At the top, you'll see the Play, Weapons, Operators, and Barracks tabs right where you expect them. The social menu sits to the right of the core tabs, and the rest of the screen is a fairly standard custom match layout with game settings, map selection and a list of players in the lobby.

The background is made up of the various players, and it's likely animated, though that's hard to discern from the shot. Nevertheless, this trend of animated lobby backgrounds will seemingly continue.

The more interesting reveal, however, is a blurry shot of the game mode select screen. You can't make out nearly anything in it, except the word DMZ. In case you haven't been keeping up with Modern Warfare 2 news, DMZ is the rumoured extraction royale game mode that's said to be similar to Escape from Tarkov.

It's one of the reasons why I'm looking forward to Modern Warfare 2, and it has yet to be officially announced. What's interesting here is that DMZ has been the subject of conflicting rumours and leaks since before Modern Warfare 2 was even revealed.

Some suggest DMZ will not be part of Modern Warfare 2 at launch, and will instead arrive later down the line as a seperate free-to-play experience similar to Warzone 2 and the current Warzone. Others, however, made it sound like it's just another component of the package, and will share an existing map with a different mode, possibly the new Warzone.

Obviously, this does not 100% confirm either of those rumours, but it does at least verify that the mode exists. Until Infinity Ward properly reveals it, however, we won't find out for sure.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is scheduled for release on October 28 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The game's beta is said to take place in September, but that also has yet to be officially announced.