Game Informer teased more details about the leak-prone Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare today, saying that its June cover story has exclusive details on the next installment in the multibillion-dollar first-person shooter franchise.
In a post on Sunday, Game Informer said that developer Sledgehammer Games, the third major studio working on Call of Duty titles (in addition to Infinity Ward and Treyarch), is working on a new entry that “has a bold vision for the future of the franchise, in terms of both storyline and the brand as a whole.” The cover image shows a soldier on a collapsing Golden Gate Bridge. Stories about the game started leaking last week, forcing Activision to release its official introductory video for the title, which comes out in November.
Advanced Warfare is set in either 2052 or 2054 (Game Informer uses both years), and it is being built by former Dead Space developers Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey and their team at Sledgehammer in Redwood City, Calif. They have done their own research on future weaponry and technology in an attempt to make their own brand new Call of Duty universe as authentic as possible. They have consulted with government officials, futurists, and scientists to ensure that Advanced Warfare is a realistic vision of what war might become.
Game Informer teased 12 pages of information about the title, which is the first to benefit from a three-year development cycle — instead of the customary two-year process. In a video snippet, Activision Publishing chief executive Eric Hirshberg and military futurist Michael Belfiore said that Schofield and Condrey are experienced hands who won’t fail and deserve their day in the spotlight.
Condrey promised a different Call of Duty. Kevin Spacey will play Jonathan Irons, head of the Atlus Corp., a private military contractor that is a key part of the story. Game Informer confirms soldiers on both sides of the conflict will wear exoskeletons, abbreviated as EXO. A solider in this type of suit can jump onto a speeding car, punch through its roof, and toss an enemy into a pillar. Players can use “super jumps” with the EXO suits. They can also tap technologies like cloaking and a grenade that reveals the locations of nearby enemies. They can also climb slick surfaces using special gloves. One soldier has a minigun arm, and others ride high-speed hover bikes.
The video below has received almost 11 million views.