Updated: 3:23PM PST

Remember how “surprised” we all were when the newest trailer for Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 revealed that at least some portions of the game will take place in a bombed-out Washington D.C.? Well, depending on how you feel about MW multiplayer, this latest rumor/kind of confirmed revelation might just headshot your surprise zone: Modern Warfare 2 seems to include a third-person multiplayer mode.

Over the weekend, gaming site Kombo posted a video that showed several MW2 multiplayer matches being played from a third-person perspective. Shortly thereafter, a screenshot of multiplayer game modes popped up, which included a mode called "3rd person team deathmatch." While Activision has yet to official confirm the mode, IW’s community manager Robert Bowling (aka fourtwozero) posted the following to his Twitter account yesterday: "Just an FYI, if you're wanting a spoiler free and pure Modern Warfare 2 experience, now would be a good time for a media blackout."

This could all be part of some elaborate ruse on Activision’s part, so until we hear something more official, don’t place any bets just yet. Although, in the meantime, it is probably worth discussing what this move to the third-person might represent for IW should it end up being true. Is this an attempt to attract Gears of War and SOCOM fans? Are there gamers who only play third-person multiplayer games, and if there are, is a single multiplayer mode really going to be enough to persuade them to buy a game they might otherwise have avoided, since the game is a first-person shooter 99.95 percent of the time?

Lots of questions, folks. So have at it.

Update: According to Joystiq, Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling has confirmed that Modern Warfare 2 will in fact include a third-person multiplayer mode. However, the mode will only be available in private matches (toggled like Hardcore settings) or in third-person designated playlists, and everyone in the matches will have to play in the third-person perspective. So there you have it. Let the third-person vs. first-person multiplayer debate commence.

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