Activision has confirmed one of the changes Call of Duty players have been asking about for years. In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Double XP Tokens will no longer burn through real-world time – they’ll only count down while you’re actually in a match. On top of that, the tokens you’ve already banked in Black Ops 7 won’t go to waste.
How Double XP Tokens Worked Until Now
Double XP Tokens have been part of the series for a long time, and the complaint has always been the same. Once you activated one, the timer ran on real time. A 30-minute token simply ticked away for 30 actual minutes, whether you were shooting or sitting in a lobby. There was no way to pause or stop it, so a big chunk of every token got eaten by menus, matchmaking and loading screens.
The Change in Modern Warfare 4
In the new game, tokens switch to in-game time. That means:
- the timer only runs while you’re in a match,
- time spent in lobbies, on loading screens and between matches doesn’t count,
- a 30-minute token actually gives you 30 minutes of doubled experience.
Activision also confirmed that Double XP Tokens earned in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will carry forward and remain usable in Modern Warfare 4. So there’s no reason to panic-spend your stash in the weeks before launch – you can hold on to it and use it on the new progression grind instead.
What Carry Forward Brings Over
Activision has also clarified what the Carry Forward system will move into the new game. At launch you’ll be able to keep Operators, Skins and Weapon Blueprints from Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7.
There is one correction worth noting. Activision originally said Weapon Camos from legacy games would stay available during Modern Warfare 4’s first season, but the post was later updated to confirm that was a mistake. Legacy weapons themselves will be available from previous games, yet you won’t be able to equip the camos you’d already unlocked for them.
Warzone Gets an Operator Toggle
The list of player-friendly tweaks continues elsewhere. Activision confirmed an optional Operator Toggle for Call of Duty: Warzone that lets you switch off skins and cosmetics from older Call of Duty games. Cosmetics have long been a sore spot, especially the wilder crossovers such as Beavis and Butt-Head. With the toggle on, a filter kicks in and other players show up wearing default Modern Warfare 4 skins instead. For now the feature is confirmed only for Warzone, though plenty of players would like to see it in other modes too.
What It Means for You
Practically speaking, this is a straight buff to your XP economy. Tokens stop being a race against the clock, so you can queue up, take a break between matches or swap loadouts without watching value evaporate. Combined with the carry-over from Black Ops 7, it also means there’s no downside to stockpiling tokens right now.
More info is still coming – Infinity Ward plans to reveal further details on Modern Warfare 4’s DMZ, a refreshed take on the series’ extraction-style mode. The game is available to pre-order on Steam, PlayStation Store and Xbox.
Where to Go Next
We covered the game’s antagonist reveal in our piece on Mads Mikkelsen, and Treyarch’s next steps in the article about the Black Ops era. Everything else on the series lives in our Call of Duty news hub.
FAQ
They’ll run on in-game time, meaning the timer only counts down while you’re in a match. Lobbies, loading screens and downtime between matches no longer eat into the token.
Yes. Activision confirmed that Double XP Tokens earned in Black Ops 7 will carry forward and stay usable in Modern Warfare 4, so there’s no need to rush through them before launch.
Operators, Skins and Weapon Blueprints from Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7.
No. Activision first mentioned legacy camos would be available during the first season, but later updated the post to confirm that was a mistake. Legacy weapons carry over, the camos you unlocked for them do not.
An optional setting that filters out skins and cosmetics from older Call of Duty games, so other players appear in default Modern Warfare 4 skins. It’s confirmed for Warzone only for now.