Activision has announced that a brand new "Call of Duty" game is releasing this year. The game will be developed by Sledgehammer Games and unlike recent installments in the series, the new title will go back to the series' origins.
The official statement reveals the new game will "take 'Call of Duty' back to its roots." Gamespot reported. Whether this means the game will be set back in the past or is merely a metaphorical term for the game's mechanics have yet to be seen.
When the "Call of Duty" games first launched in 2003, they were set in the World War II as this was the setting popularized particularly by the "Medal of Honor" games. This all changed when "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" released in 2007 and popularized a modern setting.
Since then, the series has focused heavily on a modern or futuristic setting. The few deviations include the "Call of Duty: Black Ops" series which was originally set during the Cold War before this spin-off also dove into futuristic, sci-fi setting. The last game set during the 1940s was "Call of Duty: World At War" which released back in 2008.
There is also the possibility of the new game being set during the Vietnam War, Game Rant reported. However, these speculations have yet to be confirmed or denied by Sledgehammer Games and Activision.
Returning to an older time period instead of continuing the trend of modern and futuristic games has been done most recently by EA and DICE with "Battlefield 1." The game has seen a successful launch and is primarily set during World War I, a setting often overlooked in FPS games.
No release date has yet been announced but it is launching sometime within the year. The official launch trailer for the most recent game in the series, "Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare," can be viewed below: