A new part of Call of Duty will be released again this year. We collect all official info is and credible rumours about “WW2: Vanguard”.
The next Call of Duty will be released in 2021, is supposed to be called “WW2:Vanguard” and run parallel to CoD Warzone. In the meantime, publisher Activision has confirmed many rumours that have been circulating the net for weeks. We collect all official information and credible leaks about release, setting and the developer for you.
Table of Contents
This is what is known about Call of Duty 2021
Release: When will Call of Duty 2021 be released?
Although no official release date has been announced yet, we at least already know that the new CoD will definitely be released in 2021. Until now, the games in the series have always been released in October or November, usually on a Friday. Possible dates for the release of Call of Duty 2021 would therefore be, for example, 5 or 12 November.
Update from 5 May: Activision did not give an exact date in an investor call either, but announced that the release should take place sometime in autumn 2021. The rumours about a possible postponement to 2022 have thus been put to rest for the time being.
Reveal: When and how will Call of Duty 2021 be unveiled?
According to Tom Henderson, Warzone is set to take a central role in the CoD 2021 Reveal. Like Cold War, the next Call of Duty is to be unveiled in Battle Royale. So we may be in for another lengthy reveal campaign in which snippets of information will only be published bit by bit.
In the past, the reveal of a new CoD usually took place in May, but Cold War was only announced in August 2020. We’re still hoping for the official unveiling of CoD 2021 in the summer of 2021 – Activision hinted at an “imminent” reveal in an investor call on 4 May. Which is, of course, a stretchy term.
The leaker ZestyCODLeaks goes one step further and names a concrete timeframe. He has discovered files for Season 4 in Warzone that contain “x2” in the name. The Cold War Reveal was called “x1” in the code at the time, so Zesty suspects that the CoD 2021 Reveal will take place at the start of Season 4:
🚨MAJOR EVENT COMING SOON🚨
I've actually known about this for a while now, but I felt like I didn't have enough for a post.
There is a NEW major event coming called 'X2' that will feature the 'Armoured Train' and 'Ambushes'.
BOCW's Reveal Event was 'x1_fin' 👀🔥
♥️+🔃 pic.twitter.com/WrEpvwM8Ez
— Zesty – News & Leaks (@ZestyCODLeaks) April 26, 2021
Studio: Who’s developing Call of Duty 2021?
Three developers are changing over at Call of Duty under publisher Activision’s mantle: Infinity Ward (Modern Warfare), Treyarch (Black Ops) and Sledgehammer Games (WW2). The studios are vying with each other, so to speak, to see who will get the next nod.
Update from 5 May: As Activision officially announced in an investor call, this time the studio Sledgehammer has won the race and is developing CoD 2021. Known insiders were therefore correct with their leaks. And the developers are obviously delighted, as a glance at their Twitter account reveals:
We’re so excited to be leading the charge on @CallofDuty this year and can’t wait to share more. https://t.co/pMuaFybT1r
— Sledgehammer Games (@SHGames) May 4, 2021
The title of the next CoD has not yet been revealed.
Some fans suspect that it could be called “Guerilla Warfare”, but there is no reliable information on this yet.
This is what leaks say: According to the leaker ModernWarzone, the game will be called WWII: Vanguard. However, this may only be a working title that will be changed again. The magazine Eurogamer, which has already been right with its predictions in the past, believes that WWII: Vanguard is indeed the final title.
Setting: Where and when is CoD set in 2021?
The next setting is not officially known yet, however several rumours and leaks are currently swirling around it.
References to the Korean War: According to insider circles, 2021 will once again be set in the past, possibly in the 1950s. At that time, for example, the Korean War, the beginning of the Vietnam War and the Suez Crisis took place. The well-known leaker Okami assumes that the Korean War will be at the centre.
Call of Duty 2021 will reportedly be set in the 1950s.
The Korean War started in 1950 so good chance it will be based around that.
(Source: @ModernWarzone) pic.twitter.com/A4HJZNpuDH
— Okami (@Okami13_) February 15, 2021
Platform: What will Call of Duty 2021 be released on?
In all likelihood, Call of Duty 2021 will be released via Battle.net for the PC as well as on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X / S. Activision said in an investor call that the game is “built for next-gen,” but did not specifically rule out a release for the older consoles.
WW2 Vanguard is going to be held back so bad by previous generation consoles, and from my understanding they are planning previous gen for both Vangaurd and IW's next title. pic.twitter.com/PmokyHP0BU
— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) April 18, 2021
According to CoD insider Tom Henderson, the release will also be on PS4 and Xbox One, although these would slow down development. He assumes that even Infinity Ward’s next CoD will still be released on old- and current-gen.
Campaign, multiplayer, co-op: what content does CoD 2021 have?
Activision hinted in the investor call that CoD 2021 will contain the usual modes, i.e. solo campaign, multiplayer and co-op mode. However, there is no concrete info on this yet.
Theoretically, the zombie mode Outbreak could also make its way into the upcoming CoD – at least developers had confirmed this possibility in the past.
Several leakers, including Nanikos, claim that CoD 2021’s co-op mode will indeed be another zombie mode developed by Treyarch, who are also behind Outbreak. The studio is said to be working closely with lead developer Sledgehammer. But there is no official confirmation of the zombies yet – after all, CoD 2021 hasn’t even been revealed yet.
Warzone: How is Call of Duty 2021 connected to BR?
Activision announced during an investor call that the new Call of Duty will be integrated with Warzone. This is likely to be similar to what happened with Cold War, so you can expect new weapons, operators and maybe even a WW2 map to end up in the battle royale again.
It is also certain that Warzone will continue to be the big driver of Call of Duty in the future. According to official Activision figures, Warzone has massively boosted revenues and also given the flagging Cold War a decent sales boost. The extremely successful Battle Royale is definitely going for the long haul, even regardless of the annual release cycle: Season 3 is currently running in Warzone.
