Expectations are high for the next Call of Duty game, especially with fans souring on Modern Warfare 2. Treyarch expanding its lineup of developers and getting an extra year to develop its game has gotten fans talking, but with 2023 set to be the first year without a new premium CoD game, it could be some time before more official information is revealed about it. However, Treyarch may have left a pretty obvious teaser behind for Black Ops Cold War fans to discover.
The only reasons this hint is likely not being discussed more are the general divisiveness around Black Ops Cold War and the mode where it is located. Call of Duty Zombies has always been fairly niche, and though additions like Outbreak have made the mode grow more popular, not everyone keeps up with the storyline and main quest Easter eggs. However, those that do will have surely noticed the time jump that takes place at the end of Forsaken, the final round-based map released for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
Call of Duty 2024 May Be Set in 1990
The ending of Forsaken’s main quest was full of some major moments and reveals. The director of Requiem was confirmed to be Eddie, the final version of Richtofen that escaped the Aether timeline alongside Samantha. Sam herself was trapped inside the Dark Aether once again, taking The Forsaken with her and saving humanity from the monstrous entity. Her allies in Requiem were also betrayed by Eddie and arrested, leaving their fates unclear. However, the most important moment comes after all of this.
Peck is shown to be hunting for the members of Requiem and is planning a rescue that will likely take place in the first Zombies map for Call of Duty 2024, and he points to a random island in the middle of an ocean which will likely serve as the setting of said map. However, the scene with Peck takes place five years after the previous one, indicating a time skip for the Dark Aether storyline. With Forsaken taking place in 1985, this puts the most recent moment in the timeline in 1990, and this date may be shared across Treyarch’s entire next game.
Obviously, this is just speculation, and one point to disprove this theory would be that Call of Duty Zombies’ story has not always stuck to the timeline seen in the rest of the game. Black Ops 3’s beloved version of the mode is a prime example of this, as Shadows of Evil’s Morg City borrows nothing from the futuristic multiplayer or campaign outside of weaponry and the wallrunning mechanics. However, if the same format as Black Ops Cold War is utilized, then sharing assets - and a setting - is highly likely.
Though it is true that the Aether story was separated from the campaigns and multiplayer, the same can not be said for the Dark Aether narrative, as Treyarch has ensured it is canon to the main Black Ops timeline by using characters like Weaver. With Black Ops Cold War Zombies occurring around the same time as the campaign and multiplayer, it can be assumed that Call of Duty 2024’s mode will be the same way. In turn, if Zombies is set around 1990, then the campaign and multiplayer likely will be as well. Zombies has also reused more and more assets from the other game modes lately, so keeping all the modes set at the same time will make this far easier to do.
With it making sense from both a gameplay and storytelling perspective that 1990 is the setting for Zombies and multiplayer, Forsaken may have already told fans something about Treyarch’s next game. A full-on Gulf War game would be something new for the franchise, and with Treyarch thriving whenever it focuses on historical conflicts, this could be a great direction to go in. With leaked images suggesting that a focus on Operation Desert Storm is a possibility, too, those desperate for info on the future of Call of Duty might already have some.