Is Infinity Ward already teasing the new Call of Duty? Maybe, but reports say it's not Ghosts 2

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has only just released its first batch of DLC, but the internet is already talking about the next instalment in Activision's mammoth first-person shooter franchise. That's because Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward is back on its rotational duties as the lead team on 2019's upcoming Call of Duty game, and it looks like the studio is already teasing what's in store for the fanbase. 

Infinity Ward's Senior Communications Manager Ashton Williams has been tweeting strange, contextless gifs throughout the past month, together featuring clear recurring imagery of skulls and skeletons. Naturally, this has led many to speculate that the studio's next game is a sequel to 2013's Call of Duty: Ghosts, which took place in the near future and focused on the skull mask brandishing special ops force known as the Ghosts. 

However, in a Resetera thread discussing the speculation, Kotaku's Jason Schreier debunked those predictions, simply stating "It ain't Ghosts 2!", though refrained from revealing anything more. Instead, rumours surfaced last year that Infinity Ward was developing another sequel in its seminal Modern Warfare franchise, and it is indeed possible that Ghost, a key character from that series, could be its central star, hence Williams' skull-themed tweets. Ghost died in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, of course, but there's a strong possibility that 2019's follow-up could be a prequel, taking place before the events of the trilogy so far.

Traditionally, Call of Duty games aren't announced until the late Spring of each year, so don't expect any more news for the next few months. Activision likely still wants to give Black Ops 4 its breathing space, after all, and it's entirely possible that Williams is just posting spooky skull gifs because spooky skull gifs are cool. Regardless, we want to know what you make of these curious teases, so let us know your thoughts about these strange developments in the comments below. 

We may not know what the next Call of Duty looks like just yet, but here's the best new games of 2019 that are officially scheduled for this year.