‘Modern Warfare 4’: Why ‘Call of Duty’ Is Going to Fanatics Fest

Activision needs “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4” to be your new obsession. Its first huge step in that plan includes a sports activities fan conference and “Obsession” star Inde Navarrette.

Taking place on the Javits Center in New York City this weekend, Fanatics Fest 2026 will welcome 150,000 attendees between its kick-off Thursday by Sunday’s closing day. During that point, sports activities from Formula One to FIFA to the NBA might be showcased by panels, occasions and athlete meet-and-greets. And featured proper alongside these prime manufacturers would be the Xbox-produced “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4,” the first-ever online game to take a headlining spot at Fanatics Fest.

While “CoD” gamers will not be the primary group you consider attending a sports activities fan conference (with all due respect to the huge esports business), Activision chief advertising and marketing officer Tyler Bahl says there’s a transparent logic to the selection.

“It started with an insight: A lot of people that buy our game, they usually buy one or two games a year; us and maybe a sports game,” Bahl tells Variety. “And the overlap between us and sports is really powerful. It’s always been there. We see the players shouting us out in interviews, on podcasts. We see them talking about the communication. That when they play together, it actually helps their communication on the field. We saw that with the Chiefs. We heard that with the Knicks players.”

Following two years of back-to-back “Black Ops” releases, Bahl and the Activision workforce wished to method the advertising and marketing for this 12 months’s new “Call of Duty” installment — a “Modern Warfare” recreation from Xbox’s Infinity Ward studio — otherwise by getting as many followers to demo the sport as potential earlier than its Oct. 23 launch.

“We were thinking about how one thing we really wanted to do this year that was different is we haven’t put the game in people’s hands before it came out,” Bahl says. “We have betas and things like that. But I think getting back to those days of going to events, going to experiences, and allowing people to play — we knew we wanted to do that.”

Because the “Venn diagram is so strong” between “Call of Duty” players and sports activities followers, Bahl and co. considered Fanatics Fest as one choice that will give them easy accessibility to 1000’s of gamers. But the Activision CMO says even the occasion organizers weren’t anticipating what the “Modern Warfare 4″ workforce had in thoughts.

“I don’t think they were thinking that we’d come as big as we’re coming,” Bahl says. “I can remember the first conversation, and I think they thought we’re just gonna have a small little booth someplace, and maybe somebody playing some video games. But I think in a lot of ways, we made it very clear that we wanted to be there and really have a presence. It’s F1, FIFA and us as you walk in.”

For “CoD,” going “big” at Fanatics Fest contains activations with Aston Martin and Polaris, superstar grudge matches between Knicks, Yankees and WWE stars, tons of swag and a reside panel that includes Bahl, NBA star and “Call of Duty” actor Kevin Durant, Infinity Ward director Mark Grigsby and “Obsession” star Inde Navarrette.

Yes, Navarrette, who was requested to hitch Saturday’s panel concerning the impression “Call of Duty” has had on popular culture as a result of the actress is a tough core “Call of Duty” participant who has spent years streaming her gameplay.

“We just want to celebrate her and the amazing success of ‘Obsession’ and to see her blow up,” Bahl says. “We’ve been following her, we’ve seen her streams and she’s super competitive. So what’s been fascinating for me to watch is, as we’ve made the announcement, you look in the comments, and some people might not know that she was a ‘CoD’ streamer, and all of her fans are coming out and kind of defending her and going, ‘She’s legit. Go back, watch the streams. She was super competitive.’”

That’s to not say a proper partnership or challenge between Navarrette and the “CoD” franchise is “off the table,” per Bahl, however this occasion is about having the star “come back and connect with the ‘Call of Duty’ community, given that that’s how she got her start.”

“My older brother started playing ‘CoD’ when I was seven or eight years old, I believe,” Navarrette tells Variety in an e-mail interview. “He started me on ‘Modern Warfare 2.’ We would play Local Party and duo each other. My favorite map was Rust, with my primary being the SCAR and my secondary being the THUMPER … He would usually win.”

Navarrette provides: “For me, ‘Call of Duty’ completely overtakes my mind. There are so many moving parts that you constantly have to keep your head on a swivel. It almost turns off my brain in a way and I don’t think about anything else. It’s also such a nostalgic part of my childhood that I love to return to.”

Along with drawing a connection between sports activities, popular culture and “CoD,” Activision’s mission this weekend is to capitalize closely on Fanatics Fest’s location in New York City — a setting in “Modern Warfare 4.” Bahl needs to focus on how a lot NYC tradition, together with the Wu-Tang Clan’s music, might be included within the recreation that’s primarily a few conflict that breaks out between North and South Korea.

“This game is two stories: One is the South Korean/North Korean narrative, but the other one is our iconic characters of Task Force 141. And [‘Modern Warfare’ character Captain John] Price starts the whole story in New York City, and he’s in a nightclub and he’s on the run but he’s also chasing [‘Warfare’ villain Vladimir] Makarov,” Bahl says. (Don’t fear, he’s not giving something away forward of Saturday’s “Modern Warfare 4″ panel — that was featured in beforehand launched footage.)

“So to have that scene in our trailer to be in New York City, with so much going on, it was really serendipitous,” Bahl says. “You have the World Cup final. You have the Knicks winning the championship. We have Yankees-Dodgers going on. We have Jay-Z doing Yankee Stadium. You have Price in New York in [‘Modern Warfare 4’]. I think all of those connections — you have the Wu-Tang connection and stuff — it just made sense for us.”

It’s a daring new technique for the “Call of Duty” franchise, which has seen lackluster gross sales over the previous few years however seems to have a renewed power main into the discharge of “Modern Warfare 4″ and amid buzz for Taylor Sheridan’s “Call of Duty” film. Bahl is remaining tight-lipped about any information concerning that Paramount Pictures challenge, directed by Peter Berg, that could be revealed this weekend.

“There might be a small announcement or association with the film,” Bahl says. “Well, it’s a big announcement for us. I think the fans will be really excited. But I think we’re saving that for Saturday.”

When requested if she’s all for turning into concerned with the “CoD” film, Navarrette stated: “I am excited to see what direction they decide to go. Especially since there are so many stories already inside the game with the campaign aspect. I would love to join as a computer voice for sure!”