It appears that at least one video game developer at Infinity Ward is a Formula 1 fan, judging by the new map in the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. According to a tweet by the company, the Marina Bay street course—home of the Singapore F1 Grand Prix—will be featured in the game’s multiplayer mode once the title debuts in October of this year.
If you’re a bit taken aback by this, you’re not alone. It’s not often that you associate a first-person shooter game with F1 racing—if ever—but I also can’t say that I find the idea off-putting. An abandoned F1 track would surely make an awesome place to battle it out with your friends, though it appears that this version of the track is actually not abandoned. As the video below shows, cars are actually racing on the track while some of the garages succumb to fires and such.
A report by GTPlanet claims that the virtual F1 track will be a 6v6 map, allowing players to roam the urban environment in multiplayer mode, but not in story mode. The video shows that developers nailed lots of aesthetics unique to the Singaporean skyline, F1 tracks, and even F1 cars. The track construction looks quite realistic, and the pit buildings and garages look just like the ones we see in F1 games.
The cars, too, look very similar to the current racers with their swoopy bodywork and big rear wings. Heck, even the Mercedes-AMG GT safety car shown in the “Emergency” pit looks a lot like the real deal. Despite the realistic and detailed approach, this doesn’t appear to be an official collab with F1, given that most of the logos on the cars and throughout the track are generic. And kudos to the creators for not using that as an excuse to come up with a half-assed F1-themed map.
It’s unknown what inspired Infinity Ward to include this specific track and not any others, but this shows just how mainstream F1 has become in North America in recent years. Perhaps the American flag on the podium is a sign of things to come, given that there currently aren’t any American drivers in F1. Once a foreign name, F1 now enjoys huge exposure in the U.S. and looks forward to three races in 2023: Miami, Austin, and Las Vegas. Perhaps one of those venues will appear on a future version of Call of Duty.
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