The Call of Duty franchise has been an annual gaming staple since 2005, with Activision releasing a new game every year since 2005's Call of Duty 2. It will continue in 2021 with the release of Call of Duty: Vanguard as the developers and players prepare for Vanguard's reveal on August 19. To further build anticipation, Activision is turning to Call of Duty's popular battle royale for more teases ahead of Vanguard's reveal.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is the 18th game in the Call of Duty series and will be the fifth in the series set in World War 2. While little is known about the game, locations teased include the Eastern Front, Western Front, North Africa, and the Pacific Theaters. Sledgehammer Games is developing the title, the third in the series it has been the lead developer on following Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Call of Duty: WWII.
In a post on Call of Duty's official blog, Activision dropped its latest Vanguard reveal tease as a tie-in with Call of Duty: Warzone. The post calls on Warzone players to prepare for another operation in Verdansk on August 19 to locate and "neutralize" a mysterious weapon set to appear in the area. The post includes a map of Verdansk in the style of World War 2 battle maps, including various miniatures to mark vehicle and base locations.
This is the second time Activision turned to Warzone to help build hype for an upcoming Call of Duty game, the previous being Black Ops: Cold War. Ahead of Cold War's reveal, an augmented reality game went live tasking Warzone players to solve various ciphers across Verdansk. The first official teaser was released on August 19, 2020, after all ciphers were solved and the game's full reveal followed on August 26, 2020.
It wouldn't be surprising to see Activision and the Call of Duty series' various developer turn to Warzone to build excitement for future series entries, either. The popular battle royale provides the perfect space for Activision to tease players about what's to come in the series, from the 80s-themed rooms for Cold War or a World War 2 sniper picking off the winning team in a post-match cutscene.
The question then becomes how far Activision can take with teasing future games inside the chaotic Warzone. The series hasn't been shy about reaching into the outlandish between fighting on Mars' surface to interdimensional battles in Call of Duty's Zombies mode. Verdansk could serve as ground zero for that insanity and give players a proper first taste of what they can expect from that year's game.
Call of Duty: Vanguard will be available Fall 2021 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.
Source: Call of Duty