New information from a former developer at Sledgehammer Games, the studio best known for being one of the three main Call of Duty developers, suggests that it could be working on a new title that isn't connected to the iconic first-person shooter series. If the developer's LinkedIn profile is to be believed, the Call of Duty studio could be in the process of developing a new action RPG title. However, it's also possible that the game was once in development but was canned before an official announcement or reveal.
Alongside Infinity Ward and Treyarch, Sledgehammer Games has been one of the three core teams at the helm of the Call of Duty series for well over a decade now. The studio first joined the series as a co-developer on the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 back in 2011, and has since gone on to lead the charge for Advanced Warfare, WWII, Vanguard, and 2023's third entry in the rebooted Modern Warfare series. Although Modern Warfare 3 received largely negative reviews from critics due to its abysmal single-player campaign, fans did praise its multiplayer as one of the best in recent years.
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Sledgehammer Games May Be Working on an ARPG Title
Since its founding in 2009, Sledeghammer Games has only ever developed new entries in the Call of Duty series. But that could be about to change. As spotted by a Reddit user, former Sledgehammer senior creative director Ben Wanat, now creative director at Lurker Entertainment, lists an unannounced action RPG on his LinkedIn page while at Sledgehammer Games. The developer worked at the studio for over 6 years, from 2019 to 2025, during which he states he worked on franchise planning, pitching, player mechanics, concept and asset creation, lore books, and more for the unannounced ARPG. It's unclear whether this title is still in development at the studio following Ben's departure, or if it has since been canned.
Funnily enough, this isn't the first time that rumors have suggested one of the three main Call of Duty studios has been working on an unannounced RPG title. Back in 2022, fans noticed that Infinity Ward, known for being the original Call of Duty developer, was looking to hire a narrative director to work on an open-world RPG. The position had already been filled by the time it was discovered, which means the studio could have been working on the unannounced title alongside Call of Duty for the past four years now. Again, much like the situation at Sledgehammer Games, it's entirely plausible that these games have been canned by Activision before they were officially revealed to the world.
If rumors are to be believed, Infinity Ward will once again be at the helm of the next entry in the Call of Duty series. Insiders and leakers claim that the studio is working on a new entry in the Modern Warfare series for 2026, which will reportedly take players to North and South Korea as the hunt for Makarov continues. Infinity Ward rebooted the iconic subseries in 2019, while also developing a follow-up, Modern Warfare 2, in 2022. However, the third entry in the series was handed over to Sledgehammer Games while Infinity Ward presumably began work on what will be the fourth installment.
Call of Duty publisher Activision recently announced a big mix-up to the series' release strategy, stating it would be moving away from releasing back-to-back Black Ops and Modern Warfare games and would instead focus on bringing players new subseries. This decision comes two years of new Modern Warfare games, followed by two years of Black Ops titles.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 58 /100 Critics Rec: 14%
- Released
- November 10, 2023
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Sledgehammer Games
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter
