Call Of Duty Will Embrace Open-World Missions In Next Two Games - Report

New information has come to light regarding the future of the Call of Duty series. Insider Gaming reports that this year's game, which hasn't been announced but is rumored to be Black Ops Gulf War, will lean even further into an open-world structure.

Call of Duty fans will no doubt recall that 2023's Modern Warfare III featured some campaign missions with open-ended structures that allowed players to complete objectives in multiple different ways. These missions, called Open Combat Missions in Modern Warfare III, were not enjoyed by everyone. GameSpot's Modern Warfare III review said these missions had a number of detrimental effects on the game overall.

Insider Gaming reported that for the next Call of Duty game, these open-world missions will see the player and their squad pushing through a map that is "more akin to that of Far Cry" than what's been seen in Call of Duty's campaign missions ever before. The game will reportedly feature ground vehicles to zip around in and a fast-travel system.

Similar to Modern Warfare III, the reported Black Ops Gulf War will also feature Call of Duty's traditional linear missions as well.

Raven Software is said to be leading the development of the campaign for the rumored Black Ops Gulf War, with Treyarch allegedly handling multiplayer and Zombies. The report added that the popular Black Ops character, Adler, will be featured as a squadmate in the campaign.

Additionally, the report said 2025's Call of Duty game--which also has not been officially announced--will include open-world missions as well.

Activision has said it has the Call of Duty game lineup mapped out through 2027 and that more than 3,000 people are working on the series. A big question is what could change now that Microsoft owns the Call of Duty series through its $74.5 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. What we do know is that Microsoft will continue to release yearly Call of Duty games on PlayStation for the next decade, and potentially expand the series to Nintendo. Whether or not future Call of Duty games launch on Game Pass, however, is unknown.

GameSpot has contacted Activision in an attempt to get more details.

The next big release for the Call of Duty series is the Season 2 update for Modern Warfare III and Warzone, which arrives on February 7. For more, check out everything you need to know about Season 2. Additionally, Call of Duty Warzone Mobile is coming this year.