Activision's CEO has hinted that Call of Duty may stick with "historical" games beyond WW2, and said that the series may have stuck with future settings for too long.
Although the series' earliest games kept their feet firmly in the realms of the Second World War, Activision's flagship shooter series has, in recent years, become ever more expansive with its settings. Last year's release, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, took the battle to space for the first time, and the new direction prompted mixed reaction from fans of the series - in particular, the initial reveal was divisive and led to Eric Hirshberg, Activision's CEO, releasing a statement of defense.
For fans who prefer the more classic, grounded Call of Duty, this year's Call of Duty: WW2 seems to be offering a solution. According to Hirshberg, it's not out of the question to expect more historical settings in the franchise's future.
In an interview with GameInformer, Hirshberg acknowledges the divisive nature of Infinite Warfare. "I think with the benefit of hindsight", he says, "we can all agree we might have had one more future game than we needed". He also indicates that, internally, the feeling was right that it was time to "return to [the series'] roots" by bringing the games back to their original setting.
When pressed on the future direction of the series, Hirshberg is understandably cagey, but doesn't rule out a return to the franchises's Advanced Warfare settings, citing the ever-changing nature of the games industry and the series itself. He's more firm, however, on the prospect of future historical games, citing the "very rich territory" provided by World War 2 and historical settings in general, and referring to it as an area that could be explored "more than once".
He also briefly touches on the possibility of Call of Duty's evolution from a yearly franchise into a game-as-service model (as utilised by games such as Destiny). His opinion is that CoD: WW2 touches on some of those aspects already, using the "very high percentage of players from year to year who come back" as an example of the strength of the Call of Duty community, but also indicating that the company is looking into ways to "unify" the player base across multiple titles, including "benefits for loyal players".
In the more immediate future, Call of Duty: WW2 is scheduled for release for PC, PS4 and Xbox One Friday, November 3.
Matt Davidson is a freelance writer for IGN. He's on Twitter, if that's your thing.
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