Call of Duty: Vanguard writers want the game to be a trilogy

Call of Duty: Vanguard
(Image credit: Activision)

Call of Duty: Vanguard writers say they want to create two sequels based on the characters in the game's campaign.

Speaking during New York Comic Con (via VGC), Call of Duty: Vanguard writer Sam Maggs told listeners "We came into this process saying, 'how do we make the iconic CoD characters?', because you don't really have that in Call of Duty right now. You know when you think about a game like Halo, you think of Master Chief, but when you think of CoD there's not really those standout characters."

That lead to the team asking "'who could be our flagship CoD characters?'" Those characters, whoever they might be, could show up in future Vanguard games, as Maggs says "we want to make Vanguard 2 and Vanguard 3, because we have two more stories that we want to tell with these characters." The end goal is for the group to become "figureheads for this era of CoD."

Vanguard developer Sledgehammer games gave us a closer look at the campaign's characters earlier this week in a new story trailer headed by the team's leader, Arthur Kingsley. From sniper Helena to ace pilot Wade, it's certainly a memorable group, but it'll be interesting to see whether the Vanguard trilogy ever materialises. Call of Duty tends to operate on a three year cycle, with Sledgehammer leading the way on every third title alongside Infinity Ward and Treyarch.

Rumours suggest that Call of Duty 2022 is Modern Warfare 2, as Infinity Ward looks to continue the narrative it established in 2019's Modern Warfare. There's no word on what Treyarch will look to release in 2023, but whatever that game is, we won't see a second Vanguard game until at least 2024, with the potential trilogy not rounding out until 2027. That's a long time for a series like Call of Duty, and there's no guarantee that the desires of the writing team shape the overall direction of Sledgehammer's future titles.

For our guide on which weapons to expect in Vanguard when it launches later this year, head over to our Call of Duty Vanguard guns guide for more.

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.