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Hey, I know that ghost! Activision starts teasing the next Call of Duty

Will Fulton
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cod black ops 3 viral teaser call of duty
Image used with permission by copyright holder
It’s getting to be that time of year when Activision starts teasing the next entry in Call of Duty, its blockbuster annual shooter franchise that keeps the lights on for the AAA industry. Eagle-eyed players in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 noticed a subtle addition to a few of its maps after a tiny, recent update, which appears to be the beginning of a viral campaign for the next game. All signs point toward Black Ops 3.

Certain posters on two maps in Black Ops 2 now have a mysterious ghost icon in the corner, cataloged in this video from YouTuber and CoD enthusiast Drift0r:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Viral Campaign Inside of Black Ops 2! (Gameplay Commentary)

Dick pic enthusiasts probably recognize it as the Snapchat ghost, surrounded by a QR code. Scanning the code from the Snapchat app adds the Call of Duty account as a friend, presumably setting you up to receive cryptic videos and pictures leading up to the formal announcement.

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So far the Call of Duty Snapchat has posted one video, showing a blinking eye, sunlight shining through trees in a forest, and a brief, final image of a lone pine tree on a snowy field, all while a voice-over says: “Listen only to the sound of my voice.” So far, so art school video project, but these images will probably acquire more meaning and context as the viral campaign continues.

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@TmarTn @OMGitsAliA @Drift0r On Callofduty's Snapchat! pic.twitter.com/P7cD3ozAa5

— Nick (@Nipple_Nicholas) April 7, 2015

Traditionally, Activision does reveal the next Call of Duty around this time of year, launching the hype train in earnest at E3 in June. Following Sledgehammer’s Advanced Warfare last year and Infinity Ward’s Ghosts in 2013, Black Ops developer Treyarch is next in line to keep the franchise’s three-developer cycle going.

In the aftermath of the high-profile reveal of Silent Hills last year with the P.T. interactive teaser, conventional game announcements have become so passé. Square Enix, seeking to avoid this fate, is in the middle of a three-day interactive torture porn experiment that will likely culminate in revealing the next Deus Ex game. Microsoft and 343 Industries are also currently releasing an in-universe podcast series about the Master Chief in the lead-up to Halo 5: Guardians. What do you think: Are we at peak ARG pre-release marketing, or is this just the beginning?

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Will Fulton
Will Fulton
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is official and it’s coming this November
call of duty modern warfare iii release date makarov mwiii

Activision has confirmed a November 10 release date for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III with a teaser trailer following a barrage of leaks.
The shooter, which is going to be a direct sequel to 2022's Modern Warfare II, was the subject of lots of reports and leaks prior to this announcement. Reports from Bloomberg revealed that this game was originally going to be a Modern Warfare II expansion, but it later got upgraded to a full game. Then, over the summer, more game details started to leak before some Monster Energy advertisements revealed the game's title prematurely. Activision coyly acknowledged this leak on Twitter at the time, but finally pulled the curtain back on the project today with a video titled "Modern Warfare III is Coming."
Modern Warfare III is Coming
It begins with some green soundwaves on-screen and a lot of radio chatter in the background. Then, the soundwaves turn from green to red before the perspective then pushes into them, creating a trippy red void. In there, we briefly see waveform images of a snake and Captain Price before he says, "Never bury your enemies alive" over the silhouette of a new character. This is believed to be Vladimir Makarov, the villain of the original Modern Warfare trilogy, who was teased in the post-credit scene for last year's campaign. After all of that, the title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is confirmed, as is the release date of November 10.

This date falls right in line with the late October to early November window in which Call of Duty games usually come out. It also places its launch after Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition is expected to be complete, so it looks like this may be the first Call of Duty game released under Microsoft. Other than that date, official details on the game are fairly scarce. Thankfully, we shouldn't have to wait too much longer to learn more.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III launches on November 10. 

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Call of Duty: Warzone devs share the design secrets of the best battle royale map
Overhead shot of Vondel map in Warzone.

The Vondel map in Call of Duty: Warzone is one of the best battlegrounds in the history of the battle royale genre. It's a small-scale, densely packed map with a wide variety of points of interest (POIs) that feel distinct. Modeled after European cities, Vondel is a feat of level design as it simultaneously feels fun and functional. It's a city that you can truly imagine as a real place, with a slew of different shops to enter, a canal, and even a water taxi service that moves throughout the map.

But behind the scenes, there are countless design choices that help the flow and pacing of the map. To get a better sense of just what makes this map work so well, I spoke with Beenox Senior Level Designer Fred Wilson and Lead Artist Guillaume Alain. The duo revealed how Vondel's composition seeps into the players' subconscious, with intuitive design choices that work better than any Warzone map that's come before.
Pacing is king

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III has seemingly leaked thanks to Monster
Five main characters from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II.

It looks like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III will be the title of this year's Call of Duty game. Following several leaks, including an undeniable one connected to Monster Energy, a joking tweet from the official Call of Duty Twitter account appears to confirm that this is true.
Leaks suggesting that 2023's Call of Duty game is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III have existed for months, but ramped up recently. On July 17, the Call of Duty Twitter account put up tweets asking if Operators, weapons, and bundles from Modern Warfare II should carry over to this year's game and teasing that a big reveal would happen alongside the unveiling of Season 5. Later that day, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier stated that this is a Sledgehammer Games-led project that started as an expansion and morphed into a full game.
Then, Monday morning, images of Monster Energy promotional materials connected to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III emerged on Twitter, giving us confirmation of the name and our first look at the game's logo.

A leak like this is pretty difficult to deny, so Activision decided to play along with it. "Whew. Mondays," the official Call of Duty account tweeted. "Anyone have an energy drink they can spare?"
While not a traditional, explicit announcement, this tweet confirms the validity of the Monster Energy leak and affirms that this year's Call of Duty will be a direct follow-up to 2022's Modern Warfare II. Now, we'll just have to wait and see when Activision decides to officially reveal more about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III itself. 
Because it's not officially announced yet, we don't know what Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III's release date or launch platforms are. Still, it's likely that it will launch across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox sometime this October or November after Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition closes. 

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