The next Call of Duty is reportedly set in alt-history 1950s where WW2 never ended

COD WW2
(Image credit: Activision)

Update: More information regarding the next Call of Duty game has reportedly surfaced.

Following its reveal of what it claimed is the working title of this year's release, leaker ModernWarzone has released a new report outlining the game's setting. In a recent video, ModernWarzone stated that "the entire game takes place in an alternate timeline where 1945 wasn't the end of World War 2," and will take place in the 1950s.

The report offers speculation on how the alternate narrative will play out, and doesn't pinpoint exactly when the events of the game will take place. If the concept sounds familiar, however, that's likely to be because Call of Duty would not be the first FPS franchise to explore a longer version of the war - the Wolfenstein series also takes place in a world where the conflict dragged on for many years, dramatically accelerating the pace of technological change around the world.

Original story: Call of Duty 2021 is reportedly known as Call of Duty WWII: Vanguard internally within developer Sledgehammer Games.

That report comes from sources speaking to ModernWarzone, which claims that that name is very much a working title, and that this year's game may eventually ship under a different name. While it's worth taking this rumor with a pinch of salt, especially in lieu of any official comment from Activision or Sledgehammer, the title could provide a hint as to the nature of the game.

Whether or not the word 'Vanguard' features in the final title, it seems increasingly likely that we'll be returning to World War Two. Sledgehammer was the lead developer behind 2017's Call of Duty: WWII, so could easily be set to return to that period. What's more, a Call of Duty leaker has already suggested that this year's game will be set in World War II, and ModernWarzone also reports that some of the game's cutscenes will be set in the 1950s, soon after the period in which the war took place.

Activision has confirmed that this year's entry in its FPS series will be coming in late 2021, as is pretty much custom at this point, but we've had very little in the way of official information since then. That said, Call of Duty's reveal events tend to be in the summer, so we should find out more relatively soon.

While we wait to find out more about the next Call of Duty game, here are some of the best FPS games you can play in the meantime.

Ali Jones
News Editor

I'm GamesRadar's news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.

Read more
A player wearing a gasmask and holding a gun during the shooter, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Call of Duty season 2 brings back Gun Game and a fan-favorite Zombies weapon we haven't seen in 10 years
A cropped screenshot from the pre-alpha gameplay footage shown in the 'Introducing Battlefield Labs' video.
Battlefield 6's first teaser takes me back to the days of Modern Warfare 2 lobbies and 24/7 Metro matches, proving we all crave a return to shooters' simpler times
soldiers dropping in from the sky and looking over verdansk
Warzone's original map is returning next month, but it's still not enough: "We don't just want Verdansk back. We want everything back"
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War reportedly surpasses Red Dead Redemption 2's huge development costs, with a massive $700 million budget
A player wearing a gasmask and holding a gun during the shooter, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
10 Games like Call of Duty that you should play now
Battlefield 4
"Campaign is back": Battlefield 6 suddenly emerges with 10 seconds of gameplay footage, 4 separate development studios, and a closed pre-alpha test
Latest in FPS
Former Valve exec recounts the meeting where Half-Life's publisher almost killed the iconic FPS: "Half-Life would quietly die. I was stunned"
FBC Firebreak screenshot for GamesRadar Big Preview showing a character throwing an electric shock grenade in a crowded room
FBC: Firebreak may be Remedy's first live-service game but the Control creators are going about it the right way, confirming that all playable post-launch content "will always be free"
"Valve would never ship another game": Former exec forced Half-Life publisher's hand by saying Gabe Newell and the team would pivot away from game dev
Gordon Freeman
Valve literally gives Half-Life away now, but 27 years ago it was carefully crushing its angry pirates: "None of them had actually bought the game"
FBC: Firebreak gameplay trailer reveal in Future Games Show: Spring Showcase
With an impressive new FBC: Firebreak trailer at the Future Games Show, Remedy confirms a Summer 2025 release window for its co-op shooter set in the Control universe
GoldenEye 007
After 28 years, competitive GoldenEye players have documented what happens when you tie in the N64 FPS: "We experienced something that was only theorised"
Latest in News
A screenshot from MindsEye showing a character leaning out of a car, shooting another car with a gun.
GTA veteran says the games industry needs to "get smarter" about what people actually want: "There are so many games, and I think we're starting to feel the effects"
Posing with a rifle in the Fallout 76 Ghoul update
Fallout 76's art director "had to fight really hard" so Bethesda would make the MMO's map bigger than Skyrim's
Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve
Don't expect Minecraft to go free-to-play anytime soon, as Mojang says "It doesn't really work with the way we built it"
Yasuke looking over the water to a shrine during sunset in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows has an entire island stuffed with adorable kittens you need to check out, and it's based on an actual Japanese cat paradise
phase zero key art showing zombies in a hallway
Former Witcher 3 and Dying Light devs reveal their Resident Evil homage, complete with PS1-style fixed cameras
Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System was only created because WB Games wanted something to combat Batman Arkham Asylum's second-hand sales, exec says