Sledgehammer Games’ Call of Duty still hasn’t come out yet and people are already talking about what’s next – Treyarch’s presumed sequel to Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War. Although most of the information we have about the game comes from leaks and insiders (legitimate ones, if we may add), which is unlike Call of Duty 2023 whose leakers are as official as they come, something tells us that Call of Duty fans might want to take note of the location for next year’s Call of Duty.
A social media slip-up from the actor, Luke Charles Stafford, suggests the next installment will plunge players straight into the tumultuous sands of the Gulf War.
In posts reportedly deleted from his Facebook page, Stafford enthused about how Activision Blizzard chose him to craft the protagonist of Call of Duty 2024, a character named “Ratcliffe.” Stafford also shared images of himself in a motion capture studio, implying that his role extended beyond a simple facial scan. It’s worth noting, however, that Stafford’s posts were removed shortly after their appearance.
Connecting the dots, Ratcliffe appears to be Major Peter Ratcliffe, a decorated British Army veteran who served during the Gulf War and earned the Distinguished Conduct Medal. This suggests that the upcoming Call of Duty installment will cast players into the crucible of the 1990-91 conflict, primarily fought in Iraq and Kuwait, with Ratcliffe as the lead.
Rumors about the 2024 game have long pointed towards a Gulf War setting. This recent revelation gives further credence to these speculations, considering the connection between Major Peter Ratcliffe’s military career and the timeline of the said war. Thus, we can assume that the title of the game will go something like “Call of Duty: Black Ops – Gulf War” but we’re hoping that Activision Blizzard and Infinity Ward find a way to make it shorter.
Stafford’s social media gaffe adds to the growing body of leaks related to next year’s Call of Duty. Already speculated to be a sequel to Treyarch’s latest outing, we’ll likely have to wait for at least another year before this is officially confirmed.
Keep in mind that aside from the information leaked during the Microsoft vs. FTC trial, Activision Blizzard hasn’t told us a peep about this year’s Call of Duty.
As for Stafford, the fact that the post is no longer available confirms that he violated an NDA. His continued silence further proves that he’s been reprimanded and asked to keep a low profile until the game comes out.
With that said, if these rumors hold, players will be transported to an era marked by a wide-scale international conflict led by a 39-country military coalition against Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, guided by the digital likeness of Stafford, as they dive into the unexplored realm of the Gulf War.
Unfortunately, most if not all of the early leaks claim that the next Call of Duty will still be available on the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. This means that we’ll have to wait until 2025, at the very least, before we get to see Activision Blizzard put a true current-gen entry out to market. The only silver lining here is the possibility that this could be the first Call of Duty to be available on a Nintendo platform.
Activision Blizzard CEO, Bobby Kotick, previously claimed that the in-development Nintendo console will perform like the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Given that all signs point towards an early 2024 release for what’s currently being labeled as the “Switch 2”, Microsoft and Nintendo’s deal, which was signed earlier this year, could officially start as early as next year.
