Home Gaming It looks like Call of Duty is going back to World War II [Update]

It looks like Call of Duty is going back to World War II [Update]

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CODWW2

Update: Eurogamer reports that they’ve confirmed the authenticity of the above leaks with their sources, confirming that the next Call of Duty will in fact be titled Call of Duty: WW2. The full report can be read here.

Original story follows

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was a pretty good game, I thought. Going to space properly afforded the series with one of its best single player campaigns in years, though not without its problems. Here’s what I said of its campaign:

“It takes a while, but the campaign picks up steam, becoming something that’s fun to play – and delivers the best Call of Duty campaign in years. It’s a pity that despite decent characterisation and pretty good writing, the central theme – how far would you go to complete the mission – takes a turn for the tawdry. Just how many martyrs does one game need?”

Its multiplayer, however, was stagnant – little more than iteration on what had come before, only made worse through asinine supply drops and a prohibitive skill barrier. For that reason, and that last year it went up against Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2, it performed relatively poorly at retail.

“It’s clear that, for a portion of our audience, the space setting just didn’t resonate,” chief operating officer Thomas Tippl said of Infinite Warfare’s flagging sales.

This year’s Call of Duty – primarily developed by Sledgehammer Games – is going back to its roots as a result. Which roots though? Call of Duty has 4 distinct phases: World War stuff based on history, Modern Warfare based on shooting people within a contemporary setting, the Cold War stuff epitomised by the first two Black Ops games, and the futuristic twaddle that the games have become. Going back to its “roots” would suggest a return to history-based conflict, something I championed quite some time ago.

It looks like that’s what’s happening. Purportedly leaked promotional material suggests that the Call of Duty is set in World War 2 again. Citing ann anonymous source YouTube channel TheFamilyVideoGamers shows off leaked Call of Duty promo images that show a return to the second World War.

I think that many gamers have had enough of shooting things within a futuristic setting. Last year’s Battlefield 1 did especially well for the series, and that went all the way back to the first World War. Call of Duty 2 is still one of my favourite FPS campaigns just about ever, so I look very forward to a game that can replicate that sense of scale, with the new advancements in technology.

The biggest problem with this move, however, is that it would splinter the burgeoning Call of Duty eSports scene, which relies on the game not changing very much every year.

Last Updated: March 28, 2017

26 Comments

  1. Craig "CrAiGiSh" Dodd

    March 27, 2017 at 07:56

    Another Call of Nope.

    Reply

  2. Geoffrey Tim

    March 27, 2017 at 08:08

    Call of Duty was such a damned great experience for me. IF this taps in to that, I’ll be first in line.

    Reply

  3. Skittle

    March 27, 2017 at 08:12

    Finally!

    Reply

  4. HairyEwok

    March 27, 2017 at 08:37

    The developers of CoD saw how popular Battlefield 1 was, from trailer to release. So this move only makes it look like they’re running after the hype train EA started waaaay back.

    Reply

    • Geoffrey Tim

      March 27, 2017 at 09:05

      Erm..Call of Duty games are developed on a 3 year cycle – so this would have started in 2015 already. BF1 was announced in mid 2016.

      Reply

      • HairyEwok

        March 27, 2017 at 09:27

        They have 2 developers working on the same franchise, 2 developers that have multiple ideas for the CoD franchise every year (and probably working on those ideas slowly). I’m sure WW2 was pitched way before 2016 and they still chose the futuristic path.

        Like I said, they saw how popular BF1 was and how shitty their Infinite warfare game did, so the obvious next move would be to release a WW game as well.

        Reply

        • Geoffrey Tim

          March 27, 2017 at 09:30

          3 developers on a three year cycle. Treyarch, Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer. I’ve had some pretty extensive chats with two of these studios, and they start work on these way before you imagine. Infinite Warfare’s developmenet started mere after Call of Duty Ghosts was released in 2014.

          The more likely scenario is that when BF1 was announced, the team at Sledgehammer went “awww, shit”

          Reply

          • HairyEwok

            March 27, 2017 at 09:35

            Honestly I think CoD would’ve done fantastic if they released this game at the same time BF1 was announced. I guess EA got the jump on them big time.

            But then again if that did happen people would go and compare the 2 games against each other like they always do sparking a flash of reddit threads again on how shitty the one game is against the other.

            Who is after Sledgehammer in release. Treyarch?

          • Geoffrey Tim

            March 27, 2017 at 09:40

            Yes, COD 2018 will be Treyarch – who, after Black Ops 1 and 2, are probably my favourite of the bunch. Black Ops 3 was pants though. Didn’t like it at all.

      • HvR

        March 27, 2017 at 10:26

        Probably but they are definitely following BF1 example on naming and marketing

        Reply

  5. th3SiCn3ss

    March 27, 2017 at 08:44

    ermargerd staahhhhhhhhppppp!!!!!

    waiting for “Battalion 1944” though…

    Reply

    • Allykhat

      March 27, 2017 at 09:44

      Then DICE need to give us 2142 remastered

      Reply

  6. Peter Pan

    March 27, 2017 at 08:51

    CoD and BF should really start looking at changing things up. I think they should go back to the drawing board and find ways of splitting up the MP aspect from the SP aspect. In other words, the MP doesn’t have to follow some ‘theme’ like the SP aspect, because, let’s be honest, in the over-arching scheme of things, who cares much about the era in MP. As long as you can shoot or stab people in MP, any era would be perfectly fine. SP on the other hand, requires a bit more thought in terms of era and gameplay, and that is where some structure would be needed.

    Reply

    • Gavin Mannion

      March 27, 2017 at 08:53

      I 100% disagree.. the reason, in my opinion, that Infinite Warfare is struggling is that the players aren’t interested in playing the exact same MP experience again. I know everyone likes to make jobs about COD being the same thing every year but the MP has always changed enough to be enticing.

      Last COD I Prestiged over 10 times… this one I’m not even at level 30 yet, it’s just boring.

      the MP needs the change up every year.

      Reply

      • Kromas Ryder

        March 27, 2017 at 09:14

        People are getting bored of the standard Team Vs. Team formula of almost every MP focused game. That is most likely the reason Overwatch and its ilk are doing so fantastically well as they bring character variety to the table. Even Battlefields WW1 perspective got old fast as it is the same thing in a different setting. As a friend recently told me why he stopped playing “Same shit … different guns,”

        Reply

        • Gavin Mannion

          March 27, 2017 at 09:42

          I said from the beginning that BF1 was simply BF4 with a different skin..it’s nothing more than a mod pack… but I got shot down by the fanboys 🙂

          Reply

          • Allykhat

            March 27, 2017 at 09:46

            Fully agree, although I enjoyed the variety that BF4 had in the weapons.

      • Peter Pan

        March 27, 2017 at 13:36

        I understand what you are saying, but I’m speaking primarily in terms of the games’ setting. The setting in MP doesn’t make a difference in my opinion – the gameplay though does. The introduction of jumpsuits (or jumpjets) made a big difference in CoD, and that is the shake up I’m speaking of! Let’s change the whole dynamic, not just the window dressing!

        Reply

    • Magoo

      March 28, 2017 at 14:08

      Just my 2 cents, Battlefield didn’t need to change. No one was complaining.

      Reply

  7. Gavin Mannion

    March 27, 2017 at 08:54

    Not excited about a WW2 Call of Duty… I’ll give it a chance to shine but I’m more a modern warfare fan than WW2

    Reply

  8. Viper_ZA

    March 27, 2017 at 10:08

    Still no new game engine then? PASS….

    Reply

  9. Deceased

    March 27, 2017 at 12:44

    Now – DICE just needs to do ( a successful ) Ultimate Future Space Warfare in the next BF game and let the hate roll 😛

    Reply

  10. Sock-puppet

    March 28, 2017 at 12:46

    No one finds it odd that the artwork in those pictures is really shit?

    Reply

  11. Praise KEK

    March 28, 2017 at 12:56

    I can see myself playing this. The futuristic CoD’s were super shite.

    Reply

  12. Magoo

    March 28, 2017 at 14:11

    There are like 25 people in the world who would buy a copy of CoD for the single player.

    Oh, sorry, 26*

    Reply

  13. Banana Jim's Final Form!

    March 28, 2017 at 20:26

    Yawn! Nope… 😀

    Reply

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