Call of Duty 2020: Where is It?

July 16, 2020 at 3:12pm
By Jason Stettner

I had thought about this a month ago, and I’ve been thinking about it again recently. That is, the question of where is Call of Duty 2020? It’s already mid-July and we have absolutely no real idea what is coming this year for one of the biggest franchises in gaming.

The noted leaks from prior give way to suggesting Treyarch is taking over for what should have been Sledgehammer’s year and we might be seeing another Black Ops entry that’s tackling the Cold War. That sounds interesting, and it’s just shocking that we haven’t seen anything about it.

By now we would have had an initial trailer leak, then that trailer being revealed and even a full campaign reveal with a brief walkthrough that usually pops up at E3. That is, assuming they’re adding a story this time around since Black Ops 4 didn’t have one.

Even past that, we’d have glimpses of what the multiplayer is like including some sort of new gimmick multiplayer mode to play. Again, we’re getting closer to when it would release being a few months or so out and we have basically zero official details. There’s not actually even a confirmation it’s coming this year I suppose aside from investor meeting discussions.

This could be some sort of stealth build-up, or maybe there are some production issues due to the global situation that’s on-going. It’s honestly just bizarre, it’s a staple of a gaming year to see a Call of Duty title. It’s just somewhat odd to have no context in regards to what’s going on with it. This likely won’t matter to everyone, but it is something that feels out of place since it’s been such a set cycle for almost as long as I can recall.

I do wonder if perhaps Xbox has picked up the marketing and it could be revealed at their upcoming show. I honestly thought the game would show up at the Playstation event since they’ve carried the marketing over the generation. Perhaps another hidden Playstation event in August is going to have a reveal for it, they were sponsoring the Call of Duty League which is the Esports tournament for the series.

It could also be a push towards not having a marketing setup for a specific platform, though I feel as though Activision enjoys the extra cash flow too much for that not to happen. That is, unless either platform isn’t too interested in having that happen. Maybe there’s a hilarious Google Stadia marketing that’s hidden, who really knows I suppose. It just feels a tad odd this year, aside from everything else. At least, I think it is slightly odd not to know what’s going on with it.

If it is Treyarch, I would imagine some sort of multiplayer beta ahead of release, so perhaps that’ll happen in the near future as the first big showcase of what it is. The game is large enough that a stealth presentation of the beta might do wonders for their marketing efforts to sell the game. I’m just mostly curious about what it is, why we haven’t seen it and if they’re using the wonderful new engine for it. What will be the setting, will there be a campaign or just another expanded multiplayer.

Will the dead rise again? I have so many questions with nothing to go from. I’m also wondering if we’re going to be getting another battle royale experience like Warzone or Blackout, or if they’re going to let Modern Warfare’s efforts in that regard carry the series forward. Whatever the case, it was something I was thinking about since it is an oddity of the year. With that, you can check out our review of Warzone below or the general franchise hub for further coverage of the series.

Read our Warzone Review
View our Call of Duty Hub