Call of Duty 2021 reportedly returning to Modern Warfare engine

Captain Price — (Image credit: Activision)

Call of Duty 2021 will make a return to the game engine used by Modern Warfare and Warzone, according to a new report.

This comes from VGC, who begin by verifying the claim made by another outlet earlier this week that Call of Duty: 2021 would return to World War Two. The article claims that the unannounced game will use the 'IW8' engine that powers both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Warzone.

This marks a change from 2020's Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, as Treyarch's game used an updated version of the engine previously used for Black Ops 4. It would appear that developer Sledgehammer is opting to go with Infinity Ward's engine for their upcoming Call of Duty game. According to these sources then, Call of Duty 2021 will be returning to an established game engine for a very established setting at some point later this year, although Activision is yet to confirm any details.

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The reports about Call of Duty 2021 started circulating last week, when ModernWarzone, a prominent COD leaker, claimed that the game's name was Call of Duty: Vanguard and would take place in an alternate reality, where World War Two extended into the 1950's. Eurogamer then claimed that this was inaccurate, as Call of Duty 2021 would have a traditional World War Two setting.

Whatever the case may be, we'll have to wait a fair few months yet to find out for sure. Keeping in mind that 2020's Black Ops Cold War wasn't unveiled until August with a November release date, we could be in for a little bit of an extended wait to find out about this year's launch for sure.