It’s fun to look back over old Call of Duty news

Video games news is great, isn’t it? Especially when you’re able to look back at it in hindsight. When it isn’t spectacularly wrong it can sometimes be surprisingly revealing, offering clues to things you didn’t even realise were clues until years later. 

With the release of Modern Warfare Remastered this Friday, I thought it would be interesting to dust off some old Call of Duty reports, from the ones that got it totally wrong, to the ones that kind of got it right, revealing details about future games years ahead of their release, or hinting at Titanfall’s existence half a decade before its reveal.

I’ve delved deep into the VideoGamer archives to pluck out some of the ones you’re least likely to remember. So, as Modern Warfare’s Gaz might say: Let’s do this.

Infinity Ward now the sole developer working on Call of Duty? (April 22, 2008)

It seems pretty laughable now, but in April 2008 it was reported that Infinity Ward had signed a contract with Activision agreeing that it would develop all future Call of Duty titles following the release of World at War. Clearly this didn’t turn out to be the case, and with Infinity Ward, Treyarch, Raven, Neversoft, Sledgehammer, Beenox, Certain Affinity, High Moon and more all having contributed to the series since, there seem to be more development studios working on Call of Duty today than any other franchise.

Infinity Ward working on sci-fi title? (June 23, 2008)

Hmm. Could this have been the first indication of Titanfall? Back in the summer of 2008, just months after the release of the original Modern Warfare, an anonymous source speaking to defunct website TalkPlayStation claimed that Infinity Ward was in the process of developing “a new sci-fi title”. At the time there was nothing else to go on. But then, one month later…

Infinity Ward to be in complete control of new IP (July 7, 2008)

In July 2008, then-community manager Robert Bowling confirmed that Infinity Ward had signed a
new contract with Activision to work on a future project (Modern Warfare 2), along with the possibility of working on a “unique new IP… that we’ll have complete control over”. 

Infinity Ward never got to make its new IP, but former co-founder and CEO Vince Zampella (along with various members of the Infinity Ward team) later went on to form Respawn and release new sci-fi IP Titanfall. Which begs the question? Had Zampella remained at Infinity Ward, could Titanfall have been published by Activision…?

Call of Duty 4 PS3 DLC maps in Sony’s hands (April 9, 2008)

Back in 2008, DLC packs weren’t tied to platform-specific marketing deals. Instead, they just released on whichever platform was ready first. Sadly, PS3 players had an agonising 3 week wait after Xbox 360 players for Call of Duty 4’s first and only DLC pack, with PC gamers having to wait even longer. Thanks to a deal with Nvidia, though, the maps were available on PC for free. Free!

Aliens were an early idea for Modern Warfare 2 (November 20, 2009)

Modern Warfare 2
could have turned out to be quite a different game had some of Infinity Ward’s original ideas been implemented. As well as considering viruses and chemical warfare for Modern Warfare 2’s story, the studio also thought about introducing aliens or zombies. Both made their way into later Call of Duty games: aliens in Call of Duty: Ghosts and Zombies in almost all of them, but they’ve never been featured in the game’s campaign. Still, aliens could have been a good enemy for a Call of Duty set in… 

Next Call of Duty to be set in space (November 10, 2010)

Nope, this isn’t a
story from last year, but one from 2010, when Gamasutra claimed that Sledgehammer’s first Call of Duty game would be set in space. Sadly, it was wrong. Sledgehammer’s first game turned out to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, a game definitely not set in space. And while Call of Duty: Ghosts experimented with the setting along the way, fans would have to wait another five years for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, the first Call of Duty to be truly set amongst the stars.

Next Call of Duty continues Modern Warfare story arc, claims source (November 15, 2012)

Just days after Black Ops 2’s release, Siliconera reported that 2013’s Call of Duty would take place “in the Modern Warfare arc”, and that some lines of dialogue had already been recorded by the game’s developer. Interestingly, the report didn’t turn out to be entirely correct (2013’s Call of Duty was eventually revealed as Call of Duty: Ghosts), but it had unknowingly uncovered clues about 2014’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare within the lines of dialogue.

“Goliath, this is Sentinel Zero One! We have enemy armor at the gate, hundred meters north of our position!” read the leaked script – a line many fans will recognise as identifying Advanced Warfare character Major Cormack. Another line, meanwhile, reads: “We’ve got KVA on the move! They’re going to strongpoint the main gate, ETA two mikes!”. KVA is the name of the terrorist organisation in Advanced Warfare.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s Day Zero launch was a
‘complete balls-up’ (November 14, 2014)

It seemed like such a simple idea, but it turned out to be anything but. Back in 2014, fans who pre-ordered Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare were given the option of picking up its Day Zero Edition on November 3, one day ahead of the game’s official release on November 4. Somehow, though, this managed to cause all kinds of confusion, resulting in one major games retailer calling it “one of, if not, the most complicated launches” it had ever seen, and store staff selling all versions of the game ahead of launch. Whoops.

Call of Duty 2 players call for strike action (November 28, 2005)

Back in 2005, Call of Duty fans were so angry with Infinity Ward’s lack of post-launch support for Call of Duty 2 that they threatened to propose 24 hour server shutdowns “of all Call of Duty games”. I’m not sure if the strikes eventually happened, but can you imagine such a thing being proposed today?

Call of Duty: Ghost’s opening sequence is almost identical to Modern Warfare 2’s ending (November 6, 2013)

Intentional homage or lazy re-skin? We’ll never quite know what went on here, but suffice to say some players were understandably a little miffed at Infinity Ward’s decision to copy the same animations from Modern Warfare 2’s ending into Call of Duty: Ghost’s opening.

No Call of Duty for Modern Warfare 2 (March 27, 2009)

Did you ever notice that the Call of Duty logo was missing from Modern Warfare 2’s title screen, even though it was on the box? Odd, right? Well, prior to the game’s release it was reported that the Call of Duty brand had been dropped from the title, with the game instead simply being sold as Modern Warfare 2. A few months after the initial report, though, it was reported that the game had suffered from a “dramatic drop” in brand awareness, likely resulting in Activision scrambling to pop the Call of Duty logo back on the cover.

This is what the Modern Warfare 2 boycotters are playing

Sadly, I can’t find a record of this story in the dust-ridden depths of the VideoGamer archives, but needless to say, it’s a classic. After Infinity Ward declared that it had scrapped dedicated servers for Modern Warfare 2, angered fans decided to create a Steam group dedicated to boycotting the game. And as the pic above shows, it didn’t quite go to plan…

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered release on PS4, Xbox One and PC this Friday, November 4. Will you be boycotting them?