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Video clips of a canceled Call of Duty game once being worked on by Tony Hawk's Pro Skater studio Neversoft has surfaced online.
Twitter user @mangafigurines posted footage from "NX1," also known as Call of Duty: Future Warfare, showcasing gameplay taken from the mission Moonbase Assault. It offers the intense action we've come to expect from the series, though, as the name suggests, in a low-gravity setting.
Although the user doesn't specify where the footage came from, comments on the post by ex-Neversoft developer Brian Bright confirm its authenticity. "This was NX1, after IW imploded and split into Respawn," Bright, who was multiplayer lead on the project, says. He explains that it was at this time that Neversoft waved the Guitar Hero series goodbye and set to work on making a "futuristic" Call of Duty game. "This mission was on the moon, some experiments with low g and was really about the team learning the engine," he says.
This was NX1, after IW imploded and split into Respawn Neversoft pivoted from Guitar Hero to make a futuristic COD game. This mission was on the moon, some experiments with low g and was really about the team learning the engine. We were making GH games on our THPS engine prior.January 28, 2024
According to Bright, NX1 would have launched in place of Call of Duty: Ghosts, the series' 2013 offering developed by Infinity Ward. "We had 2-3 campaign missions, and a bunch of MP work done before cancellation," says the developer, though he doesn't go into detail as to why the project never saw the light of day. The series did eventually blast players off into space, though this wasn't until 2016's Infinite Warfare.
A second video, this time showcasing NX1's multiplayer component, also appears to be authentic, thanks to additional comments made by Bright. The developer says that this map, if he recalls correctly, was called "Sandstorm." He also mentions that "Escort" would have been one of the game modes for multiplayer. Presumably, this would have been something similar to Black Ops Cold War's escort mode, suggesting again that this project paved the way for future ideas.
fuck it, NX1 multiplayer. https://t.co/wGRQlQjSMl pic.twitter.com/OSjycBusDlJanuary 28, 2024
As for what's next for the shooter series, Call of Duty 2024 is reportedly another Black Ops, this time set in the Gulf War.
