Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 may have launched amid unprecedented hype back in November 2009, but it looks as though developer Infinity Ward is hoping to build up similar anticipation for the game's first expansion pack.
In a teaser website launched this week, the developer has revealed that new maps will be coming to its hugely-popular title via Xbox Live on March 30th.
The site, Mapathy.com, teases that "more than 20 million people may be at risk for Mapathy" - a condition described as "a state of indifference to the same old maps one has been playing for the last several months".
Pointing the finger directly at its existing High Rise and Terminal maps, the developer jokingly adds that "the Mapathetic individual no longer derives pleasure from blowing up people hiding in the cockpit or on top of the crane".
It's an admittedly cute teaser, but details on the new map pack itself are few and far between. Infinity Ward suggests users "check back soon for more self-help information", but the arrival of the Mapathy website has already sparked widespread speculation.
Arguably the most hopeful rumour comes from gaming website rllmuk, where a forum user claims to have leaked the contents of Infinity Ward's upcoming expansion. According to the unnamed source, two map packs will be released. A Flashback Pack containing three maps ported from Call of Duty 4 is said to feature Crash, Overgrown and Shipment, whilst a Stimulus Pack will introduce a further three new maps; Complex, Compact and Storm.
If that isn't enough to rekindle your interest in the game, the same source also reckons the Stimulus Pack will include 20 new challenges, three new weapons, five new Special Ops missions, three new perks and the addition of several new multiplayer game modes.
We'll have to wait for Infinity Ward to spill the beans, but if the expansion offers even half of what's being rumoured, we'll be sold. The new content will be launch exclusively for the Xbox 360, but is expected to make its way to other platforms at a later date.