A new Call of Duty game is indeed coming in 2017 and will "take Call of Duty back to its roots."
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Activision has confirmed in an earnings report that a new Call of Duty game is coming out this year. The 2017 installment of the game will be developed by Sledgehammer Games, the studio behind 2014's Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. In case you don't remember, that's the one with Kevin Spacey.
While Call of Duty2017 doesn't have a title or a set release date, Activision did share a few vague details about the game, including the fact that this year's installment will "take Call of Dutyback to its roots." In a call (via IGN), Activision revealed that "traditional combat will once again take center stage" in the new sequel.
It's no secret that, while well-received by critics, last year's installment, Infinite Warfare, which took the Call of Dutyuniverse to space, received a bit of backlash from fans who felt that the series had veered off course in the past few years. Still, Infinite Warfare was the bestselling game in 2016, even though it didn't meet the sales numbers of past Call of Duty games.
Activision addressed the fact that the “space setting didn’t resonate” with fans, and that last year's installment “wasn’t the success we planned.”
There's a sense at Activision that the series is now headed in the right direction with the 2017 installment. Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said in a call following the earnings report that "we’ve never been more excited creatively or commercially about our three-year Call of Duty slate."
It remains to be seen what going back to the series' roots might mean for the new installment. It's almost certainly either going back in time to WWII or at least going back to a more realistic and contemporary setting. It should be noted that Sledgehammer once pitched a Call of Dutygame set in Vietnam that was rejected by Activision. Could the studio revisit that idea in a more realistic Call of Duty game?
We will keep you updated as we learn more!
