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Activision admits players are fatigued with futuristic Call of Duty games

Gabe Gurwin
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Official Call of Duty®: WWII Headquarters Reveal Trailer [UK]
The Call of Duty franchise had been moving further and further into the future over the last few years, with varying degrees of success. While 2014’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare included some great innovations to mobility and a fun, straightforward story, the next few installments began to veer off the rails. After the poor public reception — and lower sales numbers — for
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Infinite Warfare in 2016, Activision knew it had to go back to its roots with
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Call of Duty: WWII.

Speaking to Game Informer, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg revealed that the company likely wouldn’t have released another futuristic shooter if it had anticipated fans’ reaction to it.

“First of all, there was a time not too long ago when everybody in the Call of Duty community was fatigued with modern [shooters] and was asking for innovation and asking for new experiences, and that’s what led us to start experimenting with taking the franchise into the future in the first place,” Hirshberg said. “I think with the benefit of hindsight, we can all agree we might have had one more future game than we needed.”

Hirshberg also said that the team at Sledgehammer originally wanted to begin work on an Advanced Warfare sequel, but it “felt natural” to task them with bringing the franchise back to its original World War II setting. He also seems less than confident about the prospects of an Advanced Warfare 2 actually seeing the light of day. The return to 1940s combat doesn’t sound like it will be a one-and-done deal, however. With World at War exploring the Pacific conflict and Black Ops even examining what happened after the war, Activision could give a newer, more modern spin on World War II without retreading ground. We’re still holding out for that Revolutionary War game, though.

Call of Duty: World War II focuses entirely on the fight against the Nazis, and its campaign includes Hollywood talent like Josh Duhamel, Ving Rhames, and David Tennant. The game will also include a competitive multiplayer mode, as well as a zombie mode with a renewed emphasis on horror. It’s out on November 3 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

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Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
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