‘Call of Duty’ rumor: ‘Black Ops 4’ for 2018

Image: Activision/Treyarch via AFP Relaxnews

This year’s entry to the “Call of Duty” franchise will be set in modern times, according to an industry insider.

After Activision went back in time with 2017’s “Call of Duty: WWII”, the franchise’s next first-person shooter will stick to modern-day settings.

That’s according to Marcus Sellars, a Nintendo fan site reviewer and editor, and a self-proclaimed industry insider who correctly predicted the announcements of “Dark Souls” for the Nintendo Switch, as well as Nintendo’s intriguing DIY cardboard kit scheme Nintendo Labo.

“COD 2018 is Black Ops 4 and is coming to PlayStation 4/Xbox One/Windows PC/Nintendo Switch,” he wrote on Twitter. “It is set in the modern times and is boots on the ground.”

“The Switch version will support DLC, HD Rumble and motion controls. The Switch version is also being ported by a company which is familiar with COD games,” he added.

If this year’s “Call of Duty” is indeed “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4”, it will mark a return to the Black Ops subseries last seen in 2015.

While 2010’s “Call of Duty: Black Ops” took place in the 1960s, its 2012 sequel flipped between the late 1980s and 2025; “Black Ops III” flung itself further into the future with a 2065 backdrop.

Meanwhile, 2014’s “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare” was set in the 2050s and its own 2016 follow-up “Infinite Warfare” took to the stars.

Dissatisfied with the sci-fi trend, fans called for a return to the historical settings that had helped establish “Call of Duty” in the first place; competing franchise “Battlefield” proved a crowd-pleaser when it announced World War I era “Battlefield 1” for 2016.

So Sellars’ line about a “Black Ops 4” being “set in the modern times” with “boots on the ground” is a nod to player concerns, though given contemporary technology it doesn’t rule out the inclusion of traditional sci-fi themes nor science non-fiction realities.

If the prediction proves correct, “Black Ops 4” would also be the first “Call of Duty” on a Nintendo console since 2013’s “Call of Duty: Ghosts” on the under-performing Wii U.

Activision and its “Call of Duty” studios have tended to announce new franchise entries in April, though a hint given during February 2017’s investor call sparked suspicions over that year’s historical theme. JB

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