Call of Duty: WWII
There are few things you can actually count on in the video game industry, given that it’s beyond common for most games to experience at least a handful of delays before making it to release. But there is one exception, and pandemic or not, a new Call of Duty arrives every fall without fail.
As such, rumors are already swirling about the next game in the series, and recently, some leaks have emerged that supposedly reveal its concept and setting. And it shows that the series is kind of scrambling for new ideas, given that it hasn’t missed a yearly release since 2005.
The leaks come from Modern Warzone, and the word “Vanguard” keeps coming up as a possible title or working title. But it’s the concept that’s the most eye-catching:
Modern Warzone says that the next Call of Duty will take place in an alternate history where World War II never ended, and it will occur in the 1950s as the war still rages.
Call of Duty has mined World War II for all it’s worth across several games now, they’ve done every war setting between then, as well, Vietnam, the Cold War, “present day” for Modern Warfare and of course, a bit of dabbling in a science-fiction future. So with all those exhausted, and a few flat-out reboots, now we’re getting into alt-history WWII.
I suppose Call of Duty exists fundamentally as mostly alt-history already, given that the conflicts it invents outside of WWII are often not ones that actually happened. But there’s something about extending WWII that feels different, and we’re getting into Wolfenstein territory here, which is the premise of that series. But I don’t think we’ll get mecha-Hitler in Call of Duty: Vanguard, or whatever it ends up being.
I am curious what might happen to change the course of history in the game. Maybe Hitler doesn’t invade Russia. Maybe the US doesn’t drop the atomic bombs. But I think you tread into somewhat weird territory if you’re over-fictionalizing a very real war and not going all the way to full-on wackiness like Wolfenstein. For instance, a game that say, enacts what a 1951 invasion of the Japanese mainland would have looked like may not go over well.
Call of Duty: WWII
This is supposed to be Sledgehammer’s year, with their last effort being, you guessed it, Call of Duty: WWII, so I would expect some overlap between those. I don’t fully remember the end of that campaign, but so far as I can tell there was nothing to alter the course of the real-life war.
It’s easy to tell Call of Duty to take a break, but you know Activision never will, given how heavily it relies on COD being a massive seller every year. Telling them to not release a Call of Duty in a given year is like telling Ford to just not make trucks or something, it won’t happen.
We usually find out actual info about the next Call of Duty in the summer, so we’ll have to rely on leakers before then. I did like COD: WWII, but alt-history for the war is an odd path to head down, so we’ll have to see how it goes, if this rumor does pan out.
Update: Eurogamer says they have confirmed the return to WWII for Call of Duty, but not the “alt-history” aspect of it
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