It's not uncommon for the Activision marketing team to do playtests of upcoming Call of Duty games with influencers and celebrities. These sessions are opportunities to promote upcoming games, establish marketing partnerships, and to gather feedback from key community members. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's upcoming launch is no different in this regard. Infinity Ward recently confirmed it held a special play session with a group of NBA stars to try Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 early.Infinity Ward shared a message about the NBA stars visiting in a message on Twitter on Friday. The tweet reads "Casual hangout with some friends at the studio" and includes two photographs. The first is of Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George and the second is of ex-Clippers and Wizards player Jerome Robinson. The two are shown getting to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 early, a cadre of developers from Infinity Ward surrounding each basketball player as they play.Details regarding the session were not shared beyond the tweet. There's no real mention of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, even, though the fact that Infinity Ward is hosting the play session and the Modern Warfare logo is seen on t-shirts and mouse pads makes it obvious what game is being played. There's clearly still a significant level of secrecy surrounding Modern Warfare 2, even if there's a bit of cross-marketing with the NBA in the meantime.
NBA fans will also take note of one other detail. Infinity Ward clearly allowed the NBA players to choose which controller they'd like to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on. Paul George appears to have a DualSense controller in his hands, confirming his PS5 inclinations. Jerome Robinson decided to go with an Xbox controller, perhaps hinting at a deeper rivalry between the two basketball players.
It's possible, but not certain, that other NBA players were also participating in the event. There are clearly a number of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 stations set up for people to play on in the photographs. These were the only two photographs shown, though maybe other NBA players will be shown in the future.
As previously noted, this kind of promotional event isn't atypical for Activision and the Call of Duty franchise. NFL players accidentally leaked information regarding the next Call of Duty game in 2019. Sports stars aren't the only ones who get this kind of early access, either. Call of Duty preview events have been hosted for influencers and pro players, too. Call of Duty fans will just have to wait for when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's betas start, though.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare releases October 28 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
