We May Know When The Next Call Of Duty Takes Place

The release date for Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War is still a few weeks off. That isn't stopping some fans from talking about what the next game in the Call of Duty series might be, though. This time around, the rumor piranhas are furiously chomping their way through a tidbit dropped by a prominent Call of Duty leaker on Twitter. If this leaker is on the money — which he's reportedly been in the past — it looks like Call of Duty could be headed back to some familiar territory rather quickly.

Twitter user Tom Henderson — who used to be known as leaker LongSensation, according to Comicbook.com — shared some details about the next CoD yesterday. As Henderson put it, the game apparently looks like "another Modern Warfare title of some kind." He mentioned a "modern day setting," noting that, to him, "Modern Warfare 2 seems like the only logical next step." If that is indeed the case, it would make the next Call of Duty the second Modern Warfare title in three years — assuming it releases in 2021, of course.

This rumor may also be backed up by an article from last year. You might remember a 2019 report from Kotaku that stated development on Call of Duty 2020 was "in upheaval." Much of that report turned out to be true, as Treyarch did indeed end up developing a Black Ops title for 2020 that was set in the Cold War era.

The report also mentioned that Raven and Sledgehammer — two other Activision studios — were taking support roles on the development of 2020's Call of Duty. If Sledgehammer was tied up working on this year's Black Ops – Cold War with Treyarch and Raven, that would've left Infinity Ward as pretty much the only Call of Duty studio available to make a 2021 title.

Infinity Ward is known best for its Modern Warfare entries. With only two years to pump something out, perhaps it makes sense Infinity Ward would potentially pick up where 2019's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare left off.

Should Activision go back to the popular Modern Warfare sub-franchise, one could argue the company is seemingly taking an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach. The Call of Duty brand has seen some of its greatest successes come with its Modern Warfare and Black Ops titles. When Activision has tried to go a different way — as it did with Ghosts and Infinite Warfare — the response from both fans and critics has been more tepid.

A return to a beloved sub-franchise might be a much safer bet. Fans already seem pretty excited for Black Ops – Cold War, especially because it brings back series veterans like Jason Hudson, Alex Mason, and Frank Woods. If a new Modern Warfare title can mix in some characters from that sub-franchise's history, and retain the tone of those past titles (and the more recent "reboot"), you could end up seeing hype levels that are off the charts.

Next year's Call of Duty is still presumably a ways off, though. As mentioned earlier, fans still haven't gotten a chance to sit down with this year's game, outside of a few betas.

Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War will drop players into the 1980s at the height of the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. In addition to seeing some favorite characters return from past titles, players will also come face to face with video game Ronald Reagan.

Will Black Ops be better off than it was two years ago, when the franchise launched an entry that didn't have a single player campaign? Fans will at least get some story to chew on in Cold War, which some might see as an improvement right from the jump.

Multiplayer is still going to be a very big part of this next Call of Duty, though, and that'll be immediately apparent thanks to Cold Wars' planned integration with Call of Duty: Warzone. Just as 2019's Modern Warfare was seemingly bolted to Warzone without any means of separating the two, if you're buying Black Ops – Cold War, there may be no escaping Activision's Call of Duty battle royale title.

It might be safe to assume next year's Call of Duty will suffer the same fate, whether it's another Modern Warfare title or something else entirely. Warzone doesn't look like it's going anywhere. At least fans can hope Infinity Ward will do what's necessary to deliver on the single player side.

Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War arrives on Nov. 13, 2020. Should more news drop about the game that comes after that, you'll find it here.