A cancelled futuristic CoD game codenamed Call of Duty NX has been shared online. Originally developed by Tony Hawk/Guitar Hero studio Neversoft, the scrapped game was the first game to take the franchise to the future.
Posted on Twitter by user Mangafigurines, footage of what was internally called Call of Duty NX was revealed. Showing a low-gravity mission on a Moon Base, the game would’ve beaten Call of Duty: Ghosts and Infinite Warfare as the first games to take the franchise into space.
NX was reportedly planned to be called Call of Duty: Future Warfare when it eventually released. The game’s multiplayer lead, Brian Bright, revealed that the development of NX started after the splintering of Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward, a split that eventually resulted in the creation of Titanfall dev Respawn Entertainment.
“After IW imploded and split into Respawn Neversoft pivoted from Guitar Hero to make a futuristic COD game,” Bright explained. “This mission was on the moon, some experiments with low g and was really about the team learning the engine. We were making GH games on our THPS engine prior.”
Bright revealed that the game was supposed to release in 2013 instead of Call of Duty: Ghosts, but was eventually cancelled. The game only had a few missions completed alongside a bunch of multiplayer content.
“We had 2-3 campaign missions, and a bunch of MP work done,” they said. “I was [multiplayer] lead on this before cancellation.”
Bright revealed that Call of Duty: Future Warfare would’ve included the first instance of Escort Mode in CoD multiplayer. Eventually released in Black Ops Cold War, the mode has players escorting a VIP across the map.
The futuristic take on Call of Duty was a controversial move for the franchise that resulted in Advanced Warfare, Infinite Warfare, Black Ops 4 and more. While fans have changed their minds on the futuristic take over the past few years, the departure from Modern Warfare was initially hated.
Following the recent release of Modern Warfare 3, Treyarch is reportedly returning to the Black Ops franchise for a new game. Releasing in 2024, the return to 1980s warfare might be a great move for the franchise.