According to a Call of Duty leaker, this year's entry, reportedly in development at Sledgehammer Games, will see the series once more return to a World War II setting. Word of Sledgehammer's supposed involvement in the next project hit the web last week, though neither the developer nor publisher Activision has corroborated the claim.
Sledgehammer potentially returning to the driver seat wouldn't be too much of a surprise. The California-based group was originally attached to Black Ops Cold War as lead developer, but alleged contention between it and series support team Raven Software culminated in Sledgehammer's removal. Raven, which hadn't helmed a project of its own since 2010's Singularity, took charge on the Black Ops Cold War campaign. So what has Sledgehammer been up to all of this time, then? If the ongoing rumors prove accurate, fans are bound to receive an answer in a few months' time.
A Call of Duty leaker, under the username Victor__Z on Twitter, claims Sledgehammer Games' 2021 Call of Duty installment will take place during World War II. The leaker noted as much in a post that features COD: WWII's key art with a hammer emoji for its wordless caption. Upon being asked for clarification, Victor confirmed the post did indeed mean to hint that another WWII-set title is on the horizon.
Fans are speculating that such a project could serve as a sequel to Call of Duty: WWII, another Sledgehammer-developed title that launched in 2017. As always, however, the above details and all speculation surrounding it should be taken with a grain of salt, especially given the other rumors about COD's 2021 installment. According to said rumors, which just recently made the rounds, Sledgehammer's entry will actually center on the Korean War. This particular leak further suggests Call of Duty 2021 will adopt the title of Guerrilla Warfare.
Of course, the developer and publisher remain mum about all of the above. And there's no telling when concrete information straight from the source will begin going live. As longtime fans may recall, Activision typically offers the first official details about its annualized military shooter in the spring or early summer. Last year, however, marked quite the turn, as an announcement didn't hit the airwaves until August 2020. Whether or not such a marketing plan now counts as the new norm for Call of Duty presently remains a mystery.
This year's Call of Duty presently lacks both an official title and release date details.