Rumors are suggesting that Call of Duty 2021 will be a direct follow-up to 2017's Call of Duty: WWII. The title of the game has reportedly been leaked by reliable sources, corroborating previous rumors regarding the game. The newest entry in the franchise is the most mysterious one in the series to date, as publisher Activision hasn't offered any sort of information on which developer will even be making the confirmed 2021 Call of Duty title.
The newest entry is shrouded in some mystery following the strange, chaotic development of Black Ops Cold War. In 2019, as Modern Warfare was preparing to release, news came out that Activision reportedly removed Sledgehammer Games from the 2020 title after reportedly butting heads with co-developer Raven Software. The game was reportedly going to be a Vietnam/Cold War game, which it still was to some degree when it released, but Treyarch was assigned to help Raven rework the game into a Black Ops title. It's still fuzzy what exactly Sledgehammer's version of the game was going to look like or how much Treyarch did to change the game beyond implementing characters like Woods and Hudson into the story.
Sledgehammer will reportedly be getting a chance at redemption, though. Many rumors have indicated that Sledgehammer is developing Call of Duty 2021 and the latest report helps corroborate that. According to reputable source ModernWarzone (via Dexerto), Call of Duty 2021 will potentially be titled Call of Duty: WWII: Vanguard. As of right now, this is the internal codename that the studio is toying with so it could change to be more marketable. Regardless, if this is true, it seems to confirm that Sledgehammer will be developing a direct follow-up to its 2017 title.
This could follow the same set of characters from the original game or could pull from HBO's WWII mini-series The Pacific and move to the Pacific Theater, allowing for a new cast of characters, conflict, and more. Of course, Call of Duty: World at War has touched on this before, but there's still plenty to explore. There were also rumors that the new Call of Duty would tackle the Korean War, but that took place years after WWII. It's worth noting that all of these are rumors, so one could be true or none could be true, and it's all worth taking with a grain of salt.
There's currently no official word as to when the new Call of Duty will be revealed, but it'll likely happen this summer. Previous reveals used to be timed just prior to E3, but given E3 likely won't be nearly as prominent this year, Activision may opt for a similar reveal to last year's entry. Rumors have already suggested that this year's Call of Duty will be revealed in Warzone, but nothing has been confirmed.
Source: ModernWarzone (via Dexerto)