Call of Duty is continuing its tradition of bringing in big Hollywood actors to play the villain in its single-player campaigns.
Kit Harrington, the actor who plays Jon Snow on HBO’s Game of Thrones, will have a role in publisher Activision and developer Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. The actor, who you can see performing for the game in a post on Facebook, will represent an evil group known as the Settlement Defense Front when Infinite Warfare launches November 4 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Call of Duty is one of the biggest entertainment properties in the world with more than $15 billion in sales. It is now combining that with Game of Thrones, which is premium pay cable’s most watched show.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1974760,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,games,marketing,media,","session":"C"}']Infinite Warfare takes Call of Duty into a distant future where a human space colony returns to Earth to start a war. It is the most sci-fi the series has ever been, but it’s also a new genre (and medium) for the Jon Snow actor.
Harrington is following a list of major Hollywood performers who previously starred in Call of Duty games that includes Gary Oldman, Kiefer Sutherland, Idris Elba, and Jason Statham. Perhaps most famously, Kevin Spacey took on the role of the big bad in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and was the star of the marketing push for that 2014 shooter.
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“Kit is an amazing talent, and the consummate pro,” Infinity Ward narrative director Taylor Kurosaki said in a canned statement. “Our story is about an epic showdown of opposing forces, and Kit immersed himself into the role and truly became the embodiment of the enemy, the Settlement Defense Front. We can’t wait for fans to see Kit play an entirely different kind of character.”
Harrington isn’t the only big name from Hollywood lending their talent to Infinite Warfare. To give a boost to the production of fthe game’s cinematic elements, Activision and developer Infinity Ward is working with Guy Ritchie.
The director of Snatch previously directed a commercial for Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and now he’s helping get the most out of scenes featuring Harrington.
“Gathering this level of talent together for this role speaks to our studio partner’s drive to deliver a powerful narrative in Call of Duty,” Activision marketing boss Tim Ellis said. “We challenge ourselves to constantly be fresh and expansive in creating gripping, immersive experiences that are exciting to play for our fans every year.”
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