Call of Duty 2021 is being developed by Sledgehammer, Activision confirms

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And it's being "built for next-generation experience"

Warzone Season 3
(Image credit: Activision)

Activision has revealed that Sledgehammer Games is leading development on the mainline Call of Duty 2021 installment, confirming recent reports.

The news was announced during Activision's Q1 earnings call, where the company confirmed a number of details we already suspected to be true: there is a new "premium" Call of Duty game coming out this year, it'll have an impact on Call of Duty Warzone, and finally, Sledgehammer Games is indeed the developer.

"We are very excited for this year's premium Call of Duty release," Activision president Dan Alegre said. "Development is being led by Sledgehammer Games. The game is looking great and on track for its Fall [2021] release."

Alegre added that Call of Duty 2021 is a "built for next-generation experience" that'll "integrate with and enhance the existing COD ecosystem." Call of Duty Warzone took on a lot of Black Ops Cold War elements back in December, and it's likely the next Call of Duty will integrate with the battle royale to a similar degree.

Sledgehammer Games took the opportunity to share its big news as soon as Activision broke the seal. The studio previously developed Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Call of Duty: WWII, co-developed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and helped with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Black Ops Cold War.

Previous reports claimed that Sledgehammer was leading development on a Call of Duty game set during World War 2, which checks out with its earlier work. A separate rumor suggests Call of Duty 2021 will have a last-gen version for PS4 and Xbox One, but this is all unconfirmed at this point.

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Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick

After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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