‘Call of Duty: WWII’ will take the series back to an earlier era of warfare

By Gabe Gurwin Updated April 24, 2017

call of duty ww2 leak 2 — Call of Duty 2 Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Call of Duty series has tackled modern warfare, near-future warfare, and high-tech, futuristic space warfare in recent years, but this year’s game will return the franchise to its World War II roots with Call of Duty: WWII.

A “worldwide reveal” for Call of Duty: WWII is scheduled for April 26 at 10 a.m. PT on the Call of Duty website, which currently displays a countdown clock on its landing page.

Call of Duty: WWII is being developed by Advanced Warfare studio Sledgehammer. The game’s focus lines up with earlier statements by Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg that the series would be moving away from science-fiction settings.

Activision’s official confirmation comes weeks after the game’s subject and title were reported by Eurogamer. While we’ll have to wait for the reveal to learn more about the game, recent leaks have hinted at what to expect.

YouTube channel “TheFamilyVideoGames” received a series of apparent promotional posters for Call of Duty: WWII, including a shot of a group of American soldiers hiding behind tank traps on the beach at Normandy. That video has since been taken down. This would suggest a D-Day mission, which was previously seen in Call of Duty 2 back in 2005.

Another image seen in the video very clearly shows soldiers on the beach, with one holding an M1 carbine that was heavily used during the war by American troops, as well as a steel book featuring the title on the spine, and more tank traps and beach.

Call of Duty: WWII will be the first time the series has gone back to World War II since 2010’s Black Ops. That game featured a short section, told in flashback, that set the stage for the game’s 1960s-set story. Its predecessor, 2008’s World at War, was the last game set entirely during World War II, and split its time between the Russians’ European campaign and the American Marines’ struggle against Japan. The game was by far the most violent in the entire series, with dismembered corpses and copious amounts of blood highlighting the vicious, intense combat that took place during the war.

Call of Duty: WWII will launch later this year, and if Activision keeps with its longstanding trend, we can expect it to arrive in early-November.

Updated on 4-21-2017 by Steven Petite: Added Activision’s official confirmation details.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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