Call of Duty 2021 is having development troubles according to leakers

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A lengthy delay would make 2021 the first game without a mainline COD release in 15 years

Call of Duty WW2
(Image credit: Activision)

Activision is already planning a “recovery road map” for Call of Duty 2021 as the company expects it will not perform well, according to a well-known leaker.

Call of Duty 2021's rumoured development issues, stem from a series of rumours from industry leakers. Well-known leaker Tom Henderson, who has previously leaked details about the upcoming Battlefield 6, stated on Twitter that Activision will be releasing a premium Call of Duty title this year and that “they knew it wouldn't perform that well," with a so called "'recovery road map' [...] already in place.”

This message was actually posted in response to another Twitter user called Soapkai who reportedly received a DMCA takedown on Discord for posting Call of Duty 2021 leaks (reported on by Zesty - News & Leaks). Those leaks themselves originated on 4Chan and stated that Call of Duty 2021 was going to be delayed due to development struggles. According to the 4Chan leaks, Sledgehammer is getting “sent back to support studio” and this year’s Call of Duty, rumoured to be called Call of Duty WW2 Vanguard, is currently “unreleasable”.

So where does that leave us with regards to a new Call of Duty this year? Well, the 4Chan rumour states that we’re getting a Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Remastered multiplayer experience. Activision has obviously not confirmed or denied these rumours, but the fact that it seemingly issued a takedown notice for the leaks on Discord does add weight to the supposed leaks’ authenticity.

Henderson has urged that we take these more elaborate rumours with a grain of salt though, and points to Activision’s previous history of liberally firing off DMCAs. It does seem unlikely that Activision would let a year go by without a major Call of Duty release, and we’ve seen developers attempt to ship games before addressing major faults later many times before, with Cyberpunk 2077 proving a notable recent example. 

With E3 2021 just around the corner and Activision reportedly joining the show this year, we shouldn’t have too long to wait before we find out either way.

The next Call of Duty game might be getting delayed, but there’s plenty to be getting on with in Warzone Season 3 in the meantime.  

Ian Stokes
Ian Stokes
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Ian Stokes is an experienced writer and journalist. You'll see his words on GamesRadar+ from time to time, and he works as Entertainment Editor at our sister site Space.com.