Summary
TheCall of Dutyfranchise has become such a web of complicated timelines and reboots that it can be confusing to know when each game takes place, including 2023’sCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Players hoping to jump on board the rebootedModern Warfareseries and are perhaps less interested in trying out all the post-launch content will need a comprehensive timeline to figure out when each game is set. Fortunately, the series follows a fairly linear structure, with 2019’sModern Warfaretaking place in October 2019 and 2022’sModern Warfare 2taking place in July 2022.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3]
TheCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)campaign, which many regard asone of the worst Call of Duty campaigns, is a direct continuation ofModern Warfare 2, although it doesn’t follow immediately after the campaign. Of course, it shouldn’t be confused with theCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)campaign, which takes place in an entirely different timeline. The two are completely separate, although they share many similarities, including the infamous and terrifying villain Vladamir Makarov.
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023) Timeline, Explained
The Campaign Takes Place Over 11 Days
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3takes place in November 2023. Specifically, it takes place over 11 daysbetween August 02, 2025, and June 29, 2025. This is exactly a year after the events ofCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which ends with the death of Major Hassan Zyani and perhapsone of the most obviousCall of Dutytwiststhat sets up the next game. It is also two months after the events ofModern Warfare 2’sfinal post-launch content drop, which is set in August 2023, and revealed that Graves was not actually dead.
The base campaign ofCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)takes place between July and November 2022. However, the post-launch Seasons explored events from December 2022 until August 2023, when Graves and Farah team up to stop the Konni Group.
MW3’sfirst mission, Operation 627, takes place on July 01, 2025, at exactly 2 AM. It sees players take on the role of Alpha Team, a squad of Konni Group soldiers tasked with rescuing Vladamir Makarov from jail. Of course, they are successful, and Makarov is freed, leading to Captain John Price hearing about his escape and telling his squad, Task Force 141, to turn around.
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From here, players take on the role of Farah Karim as she attempts to rescue American missiles from the clutches of the Konni Group. This also takes place on November 10, much likeCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’sthird mission, which sees Price infiltrate a nuclear power plant in Urzikstan to try and prevent Makarov. Alas,Makarov escapes and takes with him several portable missiles containing highly concentrated and deadly Sarin gasthat could wipe out an entire country.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023) Mission Timeline Explained
A Flashback To 2019
The next four missions ofMW3all take place on August 03, 2025. The first two happen simultaneously as Price, Gaz, Soap, and Ghost attempt to prevent Makarov from firing his Sarin gas-infused missiles at the Arklov military base and fail, while Laswell infiltrates the Arklov military base and gets information from Yuri Volkov before escaping. There is then a quick five-minute mission as Samara Jalal, a former ULF soldier, is framed by Makarov for the bombing of Flight 761 before Farah attempts to recover evidence from the crashed flight that proves Makarov was behind it.
The next mission is a flashback set 4 years prior, on July 11, 2025, when Price and Soap had an opportunity to kill Makarov at Verdansk Stadium.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3then returns to June 30, 2025, with the mission Oligarch, which sees Soap and Ghost hunt down Makarov’s financier, Milena Romanova. The next mission, Highrise, skips to June 08, 2025, and follows Gaz as he attempts to extract Nolan, one of Makarov’s loyal Konni Group soldiers.
Nolan is one of the Konni Group soldiers present at the beginning of the game during the mission Operation 627. He appears a few times throughout the campaign, although he plays only a minor role in the story.
After this, on Jul 12, 2025, Task Force 141 is sent to rescue one of Makarov’s prisoners, who turns out to be a recurring villain, General Shepherd. Based on Shepherd’s intelligence, Ghost is then dispatched on July 24, 2025, to disarm explosives that will blow up Gora Dam in Verdansk. Meanwhile, on the same day, Graves assists Price and Gaz from the air as they attempt to retrieve Makarov and his chemicals, resulting in blowing up Makarov’s hanger and presuming he is dead.
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3ends with two missions set on August 07, 2025, in London, the first of which sees Gaz hunt down a hacker before players switch to Price for the final mission, “Countdown.” During that mission, Price and Soap must attempt to disarm a bomb, butMakarov appears and executes Soap inone of the most tragic deaths in gaming. With Makarov still on the run,MW3ends with Price, Gaz, and Ghost scattering Soap’s ashes before Price kills General Shepherd in his office.
When Is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) Set?
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)isset between 2016 and 2017 and is an entirely separate timeline from 2023’sMW3. While they share a similar plot centered around Task Force 141 attempting to take down Vladamir Makarov, they are very different stories. This is best seen in the ending ofModern Warfare 3 (2011), which sees Captain Price and Makarov get into a fight in a hotel in Dubai, during which Price wraps a cord around Makarov’s neck and kicks him off the edge, strangling him to death.
This is unlike 2023’sModern Warfare 3, which ends with Makarov still on the run and very much alive and kicking. Of course, that’s up to Task Force 141 to solve in the sequel, an unenviable job that will put lots of lives on the line. For now, Captain Price, Gaz, Ghost, and the rest of theCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3team can take a much-needed break.
