Next year’s Call of Duty game is Modern Warfare 2

Next Year’s Call of Duty game will be a sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare.

That’s according to credited insider Tom Henderson and matches what VGC has heard from its own sources.

“It looks like Call of Duty: 2022 is codenamed Project Cortez,” Henderson Tweeted on Monday. “It’s expected to be a sequel to Modern Warfare 2019.”

Project Cortez first appeared in a datamined list of GeForce Now games this week, with Infinity Ward listed as developer.

According to people with knowledge of Activision’s plans, Modern Warfare’s sequel will include a campaign involving US special forces fighting a covert war against Columbian drug cartels.

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In a possible link to Modern Warfare 2’s alleged codename, this is also the premise to the 1994 Harrison Ford movie Clear and Present Danger, whose main villain is the character Colonel Félix Cortez.

Since the 2019 instalment, subsequent Call of Duty releases have been handled by Treyarch, Raven and Sledgehammer Games, meaning Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward will have had three years to prepare its sequel.

Activision recently confirmed that all of its core studios are now working on the Call of Duty franchise.

The publisher announced the latest premium entry in the blockbuster series, Call of Duty: Vanguard, last month, when it said eight of its 10 core studios are contributing to the upcoming game or the free-to-play Warzone.

Last month Activision also announced the formation on an internal mobile studio, which is currently working a new entry in the Call of Duty series.

Some 2,000 people are believed to be working on the Call of Duty franchise, and Activision Blizzard is currently on a major recruitment drive to boost its development resources.

VGC analysis published in July highlighted the extent of Raven’s recent Warzone recruitment drive, suggesting the studio has hired over 100 staff in less than a year, with at least 40 more roles still set to be filled.

While all of Activision’s core studios are now working on Call of Duty, as first reported by VGC earlier this year, it doesn’t rule out them working on other projects too.