Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is officially confirmed as the next entry in Activision’s long-running franchise, with the publisher even setting a date for when more will be revealed. Though this is the first time that Activision has acknowledged the name and setting of Call of Duty 2020, they have been heavily rumored for a long time, leaving their official confirmation as little more than a formality.
Recently, the hype for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has been amplified, with an alternate reality game leading players on a hunt for clues in Warzone and across the internet. The game kicked off when a number of players received mysterious packages in the mail from Activision, then banded together to solve the puzzles contained inside. That community effort eventually led players to connect the dots between a cryptic website and a new hidden site in Warzone that all clearly suggested that the next Call of Duty game was to be set during the Cold War and that more would be revealed about it very soon.
One part of the ARG pointed to a reveal coming today, August 19th, which is also the opening of the Call of Duty Championship. Some players surmised that this is when the game would finally be shown publicly, but it turns out there’s one step remaining to the reveal. Rather than the premiere of the game itself, today’s announcement from Activision instead points to one week from now, with a video revealing that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will be unveiled on August 26th. The official reveal will take place within Call of Duty: Warzone’s Verdansk map, a site that players have already been scouring for clues, and where teasers for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War have previously appeared.
The ties between Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone won’t be stopping after the game’s reveal, either. Activision has previously talked about how it wants to keep the two games connected, much as Modern Warfare and Warzone have played off one another since the battle royale’s release. With secret bunkers across the map already pointing to some of the mysteries surrounding Black Ops Cold War’s release, players should prepare themselves for even tighter integration once the sequel is available.
For a series that players know will release a new installment every year, all the secrecy around Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War may seem a little odd. Still, a coordinated hunt for secret messages and clues certainly suits the setting, and it seems to have gotten players hyped for more. The Cold War is a setting rife with possibilities for new twists and globe-hopping gameplay, and hopefully next week’s reveal will be as exciting as the lead-up to it.
Source: Activision/YouTube