The Next Call Of Duty Will Be Set In World War II

On March 8th, we heard from Call of Duty Zombies expert Eric Maynard about the franchise’s future. During that conversation, he mentioned that the next Call of Duty might be set in WWII. On March 22, the popular Call of Duty community—ModernWarzone—also stated that it would be set in WWII.

Since then, many other news outlets have reported on this rumor. Therefore, it would be safe to consider the leaks to be legitimate at this point. According to ModernWarzone, the game’s working title is Vanguard, though it is unknown what the final title will be. Additionally, the game may be set in an alternate timeline where WWII never ended. The report states that a source familiar with the project has said that the game’s cutscenes are set in the 1950s—at least five years after the historical end of WWII.

Skip to minute marker -11:30 for the first mention of the rumor (but you should listen to all of it)

However, it is important to remember that the idea is simply a working theory. Of course, that theory does fit in with the ideas that Eric Maynard presented to us during his interview. The entirety of the franchise, it seems, is utilizing a plot element that comes from Call of Duty Zombies. That is to say, in Zombies, there is something called the Dark Aether—which has the ability to transport us to alternate universes. As Mr. Maynard explained it, it is because of the Dark Aether that zombies are now invading Verdansk in Call of Duty: Warzone. It could also be the Dark Aether that takes us to a universe where WWII didn’t end.

To further bolster this theory, the Dark Aether appears to be the catalyst for the nuking of Verdansk. Thanks to the now-deleted leaked audio of the end of Season 2 of Cold War, we know that Verdansk is going to suffer a nuclear explosion that will wipe out the map—taking us to a new place to fight. Of course, this wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for the zombies that appeared because of the Dark Aether. If what Mr. Maynard says holds true—and there is no reason to think that it won’t—the entire franchise will be subject to what happens with the Dark Aether and the Zombies storyline.

Apparently, that could mean entering an alternate universe where WWII never ended. With this plot device in place, the Call of Duty franchise could theoretically go wherever it wants to. Activision typically teases each year’s Call of Duty around April or May, so we may not need to wait long to see what the company has to say about all of this.

Opinion

There have been many questions about Call of Duty games and whether they should be depicting real-life conflicts in a video game. Those questions have only been amplified thanks to the upcoming release of Six Days in Fallujah—which uses one of the most controversial battles in the Iraq war as its backdrop. Assuming that these rumors are true, it appears that Call of Duty is finally leaving the realm of reality once and for all. With the addition of the Dark Aether, we have now entered a purely fictional world—except for real-world weapons in the game, and even those are starting to be phased out.

This change in Call of Duty’s tone marks the end of an era when games were based—at least in part—on real-world conflicts. Now, it seems, we have entered a phase where they have more of a comic-book feel to them. I’m not sure what that means for the franchise, but as a long-time fan (I’ve been playing since Big Red One), I’m interested to see where this all takes us.

Sources: ModernWarzone | GameRant | Call of Duty Fandom

Leaked Warzone Audio Clips May Shed Light On Nuking Of Verdansk

Since players discovered a nuke in Verdansk, people have been speculating that Activision would use it at some point to keep things fresh. Thus far, that theory hasn’t proven to hold any weight, with the end of Season One showing Captain Price disarming the nuke and “killing” Victor Zachyev before he could use it. Of course, that was before zombies showed up on the shore of Verdansk, and audio clips that reference the nuke showed up.

Season two of Cold War Warzone started on February 25. Since then, we finally learned that the ship that players had seen off the coast of Verdansk indeed brought zombies with it. This, of course, raised the possibility that zombies would over-run Verdansk, which would then require a nuke to contain the outbreak—a possibility a leak from @ZestyCODleaks backs up.

https://twitter.com/ZestyCODLeaks/status/1366950966642106371?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1366950966642106371%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegamer.com%2Fwarzone-voice-clips-verdansk-nuke%2F

Portions of the audio clips have Captain Price say things like, “Verdansk is lost. End it” and “Extraction canceled, nuke inbound for Verdansk,” along with several that directly reference the zombie invasion. ZestyCODLeaks attributes these audio clips to a “Plague” Game Mode, the description for which reads, “Zombies have overrun Verdansk, and you must take it back. If you fail, the nuke detonates. If you succeed, you exfil.”  

That description is, presumably, not an official one. Even so, it appears to be accurate with the audio clips that were released. As of this writing, those leaked audio clips Dailymotion has removed those clips for a breach of the site’s terms of use.

Opinion

Dailymotion’s decision to remove the content paradoxically lends credence to their legitimacy. If that is the case, then we should expect—at the very least—a game mode in which Verdansk gets nuked. Alternatively, it could be evidence of how Activision plans to end the current season. Either way, I have to admit that I was wrong about the nuking of Verdansk. I will be speaking with a COD Zombies expert on Monday on the podcast, where we will (hopefully) develop a new theory for the franchise’s future.

Sources: TheGamer | @ZestyCODLeaks