There’s been a new Call of Duty game every year like clockwork forever, so it’s not really a surprise that we’re expecting another one in 2020.
Activision has already confirmed that a ‘premium’ Call of Duty title is on the way this year, but we’ve heard nothing official since – though there have been plenty of leaks in the meantime.
Thanks to those leaks we reckon we know the game’s name and setting, and even have some early gameplay footage.
We’re expecting to find out more soon too, as Activision has teased a reveal event for 12pm ET on Monday 10 August.
What will the new Call of Duty be called?
The upcoming Call of Duty game will be called Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
That’s the claim made by Call of Duty leaker Okami on Twitter, and reportedly backed up by anonymous sources who spoke to Eurogamer. It’s even leaked in an alleged logo on a Doritos bag of all things.
This also makes sense, because the mysterious bunkers in Call of Duty: Warzone certainly seem to be teasing something to do with the Cold War – data miners have already found models for a nuke and an old spyplane.
In its Q2 earning call Activision confirmed that the game will be developed by Raven Software and Treyarch, the developer that worked on the previous four Black Ops titles, including 2018’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.
When will the next Call of Duty come out?
Most Call of Duty games, including last year’s Modern Warfare reboot, release in September, so normally we’d expect to see Black Ops Cold War in September 2020.
Of course all bets are off this year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, and since Activision hasn’t yet even confirmed the title of the next Call of Duty it could be delayed.
That might even work in the game’s favour, so it can hit the launch of next-generation consoles, though if it came out in September it could simply release a bit later on those – especially since Xbox players would be able to buy the game on Xbox One and keep playing on the Series X thanks to Smart Delivery.
YouTuber TheXclusiveAce also thinks the game will launch later than usual. In a video that’s now offline – but has been summarised on Reddit – he cites a source claiming that the game had been aiming for a September release, but had been tentatively delayed until October/November.
What platforms will Call of Duty 2020 be on?
It seems a safe bet that the next Call of Duty will release on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and the next-generation PS5 and Xbox Series X – but of course that isn’t official yet.
What will the gameplay & story be like?
Understandably it’s too early to say for sure. If the leaked title is correct then it’s likely the game will be set during the Cold War. That covers a period spanning from 1947 to 1991, but we’d bet the game will be set in either the ‘60s or the ‘80s, the two decades that are arguably most closely associated with the war.
Since Black Ops started in the ‘60s, we reckon that makes an ‘80s setting much more likely.
Gameplay-wise that doesn’t give a whole lot away, but naturally expect weapons to be stripped back to ‘80s levels of technology and firepower, and hopefully a few fun bits of classic spycraft gadgetry to make appearances too.
We may have our first bit of footage of the game in action too, with a video hitting Twitter that claims to be of pre-alpha gameplay from Cold War:
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (COD 2020) Pre-Alpha gameplay. pic.twitter.com/TfnkQzn8Gi
— Julian™ (@TMTJulian_)
June 3, 2020
The clip doesn’t show too much – a player running round what might be a tank factory, with one gun, and no combat – but still, it’s gameplay footage.
This is apparently from a map called Tank – which checks out – but remember that this is pre-alpha. That’s why there are limited HUD elements and very early textures applied to map – the game will look better than this by the time it comes out, we hope.
That map name pops up again in TheXclusiveAce’s leak, which is worth reading in full – though we can’t verify its accuracy.
He claims there are ten multiplayer maps so far, including one for Warzone, with others including ‘Satellite’, ‘KGB’, and ‘Tundra’.
Multiplayer will supposedly be 6v6 by default, with a 3v3 mode under playtesting to replace Modern Warfare 2019’s 2v2 Gunfight.
Other leak highlights include the return of sliding, swimming, and unlimited sprinting, along with Scorestreaks instead of Killstreaks and something similar to Field Upgrades.
Take this all with a pinch of salt of course, but hopefully we’ll know more officially soon.
