October 6, 2022 Following corroboration, CharlieIntel, ModernWarzone, and TheGhostOfHope have shared that Sledgehammer Games’ Call of Duty will be a successor to Advanced Warfare – not necessarily a direct sequel. The copy has been updated to reflect this.
October 5, 2022 TheGhostOfHope has further clarified which parts of RalphsValve’s story they can corroborate.
A Call of Duty leaker has claimed that Sledgehammer Games’ next CoD title will be Advanced Warfare 2, a sequel to the futuristic game it released in 2014. They also claim that the game will be released in 2025. However, it’s not all that it seems as other Call of Duty leakers have weighed in on the rumours.
The original Advanced Warfare was set in the mid-21st century, where the FPS gameplay was aided by futuristic Exo Suits that could allow for short bursts of aerial jetpack action. However, in recent years Call of Duty has stuck firmly to boots-on-the-ground gameplay, with 2016’s Infinite Warfare being the last game to include some form of jetpack mechanic.
It appears though that after the disappointing results seen by Sledgehammer’s Call of Duty Vanguard, Activision is happy for the studio to go back to the future. The report on What If Gaming by leaker ‘RalphsValve’ claims that Sledgehammer had prepared for its next game to be a continuation of Vanguard, but after its poor showing, it proposed a sequel to Advanced Warfare instead.
RalphsValve’s claim that Advanced Warfare 2 is Sledgehammer’s next game has been backed up by fellow Call of Duty leaker ‘TheGhostOfHope’, who says they also believe this to be “true”.
Interestingly, RalphsValve claims that Advanced Warfare 2 will release in 2025, despite reports from TheGhostOfHope earlier this year that said Treyarch was looking for its 2024 release to have a two-year cycle, like the upcoming Modern Warfare 2 is expected to have.
TheGhostOfHope has now clarified that they disagree with RalphsValve’s claim that the game will launch in 2025, and says that as far as they know, Treyarch’s 2024 game will still have a two-year cycle.
However, CharlieIntel – a Call of Duty insider – and TheGhostOfHope have both since suggested that the next Sledgehammer Games-developed Call of Duty title will actually be a successor to Advanced Warfare – not necessarily a direct sequel.
As was made clear by Activision this year, all future CoD games are going to be built on the same engine to allow for smoother development and easier integration into games like Call of Duty Warzone 2, so the rumoured Advanced Warfare 2 will be built on the IW 9.0 engine Modern Warfare 2 has been made on.
A return to jetpack action would be surprising given the long run of traditional games and Warzone’s battle royale action being firmly boots-on-the-ground.