Call of Duty 2024 a Black Ops title set in the Gulf War, new report claims

Following some initial rumblings earlier this year, a new report has lend further credence to suggestions 2024’s Call of Duty game will be another entry in the Black Ops series, this one now said to be taking place in the Gulf War.

Word that Call of Duty 2024 would be a new Black Ops game first surfaced back in February, when it was claimed next year’s series entry was being developed by Treyarch under the codename Cerberus. Furher evidence backing this up arrived in July, when actor and singer Luke Charles Stafford shared a Facebook post referencing Black Ops and claiming his likeness would be used for next year’s main character, “Ratcliff”.

And that brings us to a new report from Windows Central which, citing “multiple sources familiar with Activision’s plans”, says next year’s Call of Duty “is indeed Black Ops”. The publication also claims the game will attempt to “explore a nuanced narrative of the Gulf War, with a critical focus on different participants within the conflict.”

That story will apparently “dovetail into the end of the Cold War era, and explore some of the consequences therein”, and gameplay wise, the early 90s setting will mean a return to “more traditional military combat technology and familiar Black Ops gadgetry” as opposed to current and near-future tech.

Windows Central says Call of Duty 2024 will “represent the longest development time Treyarch has ever put into a Call of Duty title it’s leading”, and notes Activision is targeting a “late fall, early winter 2024” launch for the game. There’s also talk of a “large pre-order early access bonus” offering several days access for the base game, and potentially “weeks” for other modes.

It is, of course, unlikely we’ll hear much about 2024’s Call of Duty in any official capacity for quite some time; this year’s instalment, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, has barely been out for two weeks, and it’s development has been a controversial one. Eurogamer’s Chris Tapsell called Modern Warfare 3 an “exercise in extracting value from its players rather than providing it” in his two out of five star review, adding, “the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is what happens when this industry is at its worst.”