While every year brings something new, there are some things that make regular returns: tax season, holidays, and Call of Duty games. This year is no exception, as Activision officially confirmed during their Q4 Investor Call today, February 6th, that a new entry in the military shooter series will be coming out this fall.
While this news isn’t surprising seeing as Call of Duty has gotten the annualization treatment since 2005, there was something surprising about this announcement. For the first time, Activision has neglected to mention who is developing this new game.
While this may not seem like a big deal to some, keep in mind that Activision has always made it a point to mention which development studio would be working on Call of Duty during previous conference calls. What they did mention was the new title has been “generating high interest internally” with play tests and that they feel confident about this upcoming game. Hopefully that means some new and improved playlists.
Since 2014, Call of Duty has been rotating between three development studios: Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, and Infinity Ward. Though it was Sledgehammer’s turn to develop a game this year, Kotaku had previously reported that Treyarch was put in charge of the 2020 title back in May 2019, with Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software supporting development. Allegedly there was some tension between Sledgehammer and Raven that left their project a mess, which means it probably would’ve had even more glitches than Modern Warfare has, so Activision handed over the game to Treyarch. Rumors suggest that Sledgehammer’s game was originally going to be set in Vietnam during the Cold War, an idea that Treyarch continued to work on.
Sledgehammer co-founders Michael Condrey and Glen Schofield left Activision last year, along with a few other Sledgehammer devs. It’s unknown if they left due to the tension between Sledgehammer and Raven or disappointment at Call of Duty being taken away from them. It’s also unknown if Treyarch really is still developing the newest entry, since nothing has been reported since May 2019. As long as it includes the map Shipment, most fans will be happy.
Activision has not confirmed any specific details about Call of Duty 2020, but if the rumors about a Cold War setting are true, this could be a new entry in the Black Ops series. Fans should know for certain by May, as that’s usually the time Activision reveals new Call of Duty titles, with the release date of the game usually coming in October or November. It’s also very likely that this year’s Call of Duty will be a launch window title for the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, set to release in Holiday 2020.
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Source: Charlie INTEL
