Modern Warfare 3 brings back classic red dot minimap

Liam Mackay
Farah in Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty players have been desperate for the classic red dot minimap, a franchise staple, to return after it was left out of Modern Warfare 2. With Modern Warfare 3’s reveal on the horizon, the devs have confirmed red dots will return in CoD 2023.

Modern Warfare 3 officially arrives on November 10, being a direct sequel to the previous release for the first time in Call of Duty history. While the official reveal event will take place inside Warzone on August 17, the devs have started teasing some of what we can expect.

Alongside the confirmation that weapons, Operators, and purchases will carry forward into the new game, it appears Sledgehammer Games will be taking a different approach from Infinity Ward by teasing slide canceling’s return and now confirming that the classic red dot minimap will return.

The minimap has always been an important aspect of Call of Duty, allowing players to track enemy positions by revealing their gunfire as a red dot on the minimap. This could be avoided through silencers, but Infinity Ward made the controversial decision to completely remove red dots from the minimap in Modern Warfare 2019.

While the classic minimap returned in Treyarch’s Black Ops Cold War and could be enabled through a specific Perk in Sledgehammer’s Vanguard, it was removed once again with 2022’s Modern Warfare 2 which was met with a ton of backlash.

Although many expected 2023’s Modern Warfare 3 to be more of an expansion for MW2, it appears Sledgehammer have been listening to the community, making major gameplay changes including the return of the classic minimap.

Modern Warfare 3’s marketing includes a mobile number you can text, and sending the words “red dot” will prompt it to confirm that red dots are returning.

We still don’t have any more information than that, but perhaps more will be revealed following Modern Warfare 3’s official reveal inside Warzone on August 17. Until then, you can check out the leak that claims MW3 will launch with only remastered Modern Warfare 2 2009 maps.