Call of Duty publisher Activision has released an image for the upcoming Season Five of Black Ops Cold War and Warzone. While the overall image itself depicts a cryptic, number-filled motif with a new Operator, some fans have zeroed in on a subtle detail in the background.
Following a series of major leaks several days prior, Call of Duty officially revealed the key art for Season Five. Confirming the rumors of a Japanese character, the art features new Operator Kitsune, brandishing a pair of Tec-9s. The new Operator breaks the streak of new characters being fully masked, sporting only an eye patch, and is surrounded by cascading numbers and text. While it makes for an interesting background, the digits hold a far greater significance.
As previously mentioned, the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone Season Five art contains numbers, which fans believe to be associated with Warzone's Red Doors, and Japanese calligraphy. To most western eyes, the script is indecipherable, but apparently not for Google Translate. A fan by the name of Eric Maynard appears to have found a teaser for the upcoming 2021 Call of Duty title within the Japanese text. The right side of the image contains some of the more legible text, and when Maynard put this specific phrase through the software, it translates to the phrase "Vanguard coming."
Although not 100% a sure thing, this essentially confirms the title of the upcoming 2021 CoD game to be Call of Duty: Vanguard. There have been plenty of rumors regarding the highly-anticipated annual entry in the long-running FPS series, with early word that it would play like a Black Ops Cold War "2.0." However, more recent rumors have gone against this theory, with recent talk that Vanguard will play closer to 2019's Modern Warfare. The new CoD is being developed by Sledgehammer Games, but is reportedly using Modern Warfare's IW8 engine still used in Warzone, leaving a lot of variables a mystery.
Regardless of how the new Call of Duty plays, it'll have to be without the league support of T-Mobile. Amid the severe ongoing controversy with Activision Blizzard, T-Mobile is ending its sponsorship of Call of Duty and Overwatch leagues. The American mobile carrier officially pulled its sponsorship of the leagues on August 2, with its logo removed from the sponsor section of both websites. While T-Mobile hasn't publicly stated its reasoning, the Activision Blizzard situation almost certainly was a factor.
With the Season Five teaser whetting the appetites of fans, many may be wondering when a full reveal will finally take place. Players may not have to wait long, as sources report a Call of Duty 2021 reveal is expected this month.
Call of Duty: Vanguard/2021 is currently in development.
Source: Charlie Intel