After an unusually quiet year for news, Call of Duty fans looking forward to the next annual release are starting to get antsy. 2020 has for sure been an unusual year for games, but has been especially strange for Activision's flagship shooter. Normally news or even a teaser trailer for the next Call of Duty game would've been revealed in May or June, but now in August, there hasn't been any official word. Leaks have clued some fans into a troubled development for this year's Call of Duty, the only hints as to why Activision and Treyarch have been radio silent.
Now in August, still without any official announcement and continual leaks, there is one particular presentation where Call of Duty could resurface. While there are "no big PS5 announcements" planned this week, PlayStation is holding a State of Play presentation on Thursday, August 6, specifically focused on third party and indie titles.
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While the presentation seems to be set on showcasing some PS4, PSVR, and existing PS5 games, Call of Duty could make a surprise appearance there as well. Considering all of the reports of development restructuring, delays, and setbacks plaguing 2o20's Call of Duty, this could be where an official reveal takes place.
Call of Duty at State of Play Isn't Off the Table, Yet
An episode of State of Play was announced by PlayStation earlier this week, scheduled for Thursday, August 6. Sid Shuman, senior director for SIE Content Communications, specifically states that the show will focus on third-party games/publishers. Tempering expectations right at the get-go, PlayStation goes further to say the show is centered on PS4 and PSVR, with some third-party PS5 games and indies as well. Some PS5 games to be shown during State of Play were also already revealed during the PS5's reveal event. This doesn't necessarily exclude any new third-party titles coming to PS5, or at the very least doesn't state that those games will be omitted during this Thursday's show.
While the wording of Shuman's post does it's best to be specific on what's coming during the presentation, it doesn't necessarily disprove any theories that 2020's Call of Duty could be revealed there. Call of Duty games have been cross-generational before, Call of Duty: Ghosts being the only example.
Shuman's announcement does mention that third-party PS4 titles will be there, and assuming 2020's Call of Duty is cross-generational like usual, Activision's shooter does fall into that category. That's not to say the game will definitely be there, but none of the wording excludes the idea of a Call of Duty reveal slated for State of Play. Not to mention Activision would do best to shatter the silence around 2020's Call of Duty sooner rather than later.
Development Reports Don't Paint a Good Picture
If 2020's Call of Duty is going to release this fall, at the latest the game would release alongside PS5 and Xbox Series X. That gives about four months, give-or-take, of marketing and final development for the next major Call of Duty release. It's not a comfortable amount of time, but Activision could still certainly pull it off assuming the game isn't delayed before then.
If the game is still slated for the typical October-November release window that past Call of Duty games have released in, there's theoretically still time. That being said, the crunch time to finish polishing and put out a triple-a shooter that changed developers and was supposedly rebooted in 2019 has to be unreal.
Even as recently as this week, there's still news of a struggling development cycle for 2020's Call of Duty. Most recently, Activision announced during an earnings call that Warzone developer Raven Software is assisting Treyarch on development for Call of Duty's 2020 release. This is just one of many different reports throughout this year and late last year that Call of Duty's development has been troubled, to say the least. The Call of Duty franchise has put out an annual entry in the franchise, every year, since 2005. Activision, Treyarch, and the many other development studios that consistently rotate on Call of Duty's development framework certainly don't want to break that tradition.
Call of Duty Fans Should Temper Their Expectations
Frankly seeing 2020's Call of Duty during Thursday's State of Play would be a welcome surprise, but fans shouldn't be expecting it. The truth is that, given all of the reports and leaks about the development of the game, Call of Duty may break its long-running tradition of annual releases. It's tough, but given the presumed circumstances of 2020's development, coupled with the pandemic slowing down everyone's development pipelines for games, Call of Duty may need to bite the bullet and delay. If that's true, then the game wouldn't show its face in an August State of Play unless it's truly on track to release in the typical Call of Duty window of October/November.
Then again, if 2020's Call of Duty is revealed during this week's State of Play, then fans should take it as a good sign. Perhaps all of the reports and leaks are potentially exaggerating the current state of this year's entry. As controversial as crunch culture in game development can be, it may be the only thing that Activision can employ to ship 2020's Call of Duty on time. It's hard not to be skeptical given all that's presumably known about this year's entry and its development, but perhaps Call of Duty may still be on track despite the setbacks.
2020's Call of Duty entry is in development.