The current Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is not even 3 months old, yet some fans are already talking about the next installment. A tweet from the studio’s Design Director at Treyarch also indicates the direction of the setting, at least until he reconsidered and questioned his own statements.
The CoD series has been on a rotation for some time now, with publisher Activision allowing a different in-house developer to work on installments of the major multiplayer shooter each year.
In 2020, the developer studio Treyarch resumes the lead on the next CoD, which was also responsible for the four Black Ops titles in the series.
One of the high-ups there recently gave a first official hint about the gameplay and possibly also the setting of CoD 2020 with a small tweet. However, he quickly retracted his statements.
No jetpacks in Call of Duty 2020?
What was that tweet? David Vonderhaar, Studio Design Director at Treyarch, responded quite clearly to two inquiries about jetpacks in the next CoD with: No!
Actually, Vonderhaar only shared a song that had been stuck in his head for the last few days. But some users strayed a bit from the topic and demanded jetpacks for the next Call of Duty:
How did Vonderhaar react? The Twitter user Melt made the claim: “Jetpacks will revive CoD!” To this, the Treyarch director replied, “What a short-term memory. Back then, you hung me from the highest branch. No. NO! I have PTSD.”
At that time, there was indeed a lot of trouble with jetpacks, and many players were really not satisfied with the futuristic jump & run development in CoD.
Vonderhaar even goes further and says he developed a post-traumatic stress disorder from that time. While it may have been meant jokingly, it underscores how stressful that time must have been for him.
Developer quickly reconsiders his statements about jetpacks
But then the turn: He commented on a post from an American gaming magazine regarding his jetpack statement. It stated that Vonderhaar had confirmed that there would be no jetpacks in CoD 2020, referencing his previous tweet. He then wrote: “Did I? I love tabloids.”
With this statement, the previous statement about the jetpacks does not seem quite as certain anymore.
But why the turn? Perhaps he revealed more than he wanted or was allowed. Or maybe he thought no one would notice. However, the jetpack statements were quite clear before.
But Vonderhaar apparently enjoys making a striking, albeit not entirely serious, comment on Twitter. He also had a little joke ready about the matchmaking of Modern Warfare, which quickly disappeared from Twitter.
Even though it sounded quite certain before that there would be no jetpacks in Call of Duty 2020, after his recent statement, that is no longer certain.
What does that mean for the game? If CoD 2020 truly offers no jetpacks, then a CoD scenario with many futuristic elements would be rather unlikely. The new CoD installment is expected to provide a more grounded gameplay experience, similar to Black Ops 4 and Modern Warfare.
Until Black Ops 3, vertical elements and fast movement with wall-running and technically enhanced sliding were prominent in Call of Duty.
The characters did not fly around as freely as in the sci-fi shooter Destiny 2, but compared to the current Modern Warfare, the height differences were significantly greater.
Players Expect Black Ops Reboot
What do players expect? There are already several threads on reddit discussing the potential setting, and some users have a clear idea of what they expect from CoD 2020:
- MrKevora on reddit: “I would love a Black Ops reboot (similar to how Infinity Ward has done with the Modern Warfare series) with a Cold War setting – essentially a modern, more realistic version of the first Black Ops game.”
- byers1225 on reddit: “Please God, go back to Vietnam or Korea and do it right this time! BO1 was so cool, but there were too few levels in Vietnam.”
- SweetSurrenderD on reddit: “I don’t think it will be a Black Ops this time. Maybe a World at War reboot, that would be much better tbh, I personally would enjoy that.”
Many fans believe the next game will either be a reboot of the Black Ops series, a title related to the Cold War, or both. Some are even speculating about a potential continuation of CoD 5: World at War.
Why do so many players believe in a Black Ops reboot? These expectations are strongly influenced by a leak from May 2019. At that time, it was reported that Activision was swapping out the responsible studios and planning a CoD with a story set during the Cold War in the form of a Black Ops 5. Another leak from August 2019 also touched upon the upcoming CoD 2020, mentioning a setting in the Cold War. The campaign is said to be dirtier and more brutal than in the current Modern Warfare.
What do you think, did the developer mean his statements seriously? What setting would you like for CoD 2020? Maybe you’re just satisfied with the Battle Royale for MW:
