What's Next For Call Of Duty?

As evidenced by Black Ops' huge launch, the Call of Duty series is still alive and well. However, gamers won't stick around with a franchise forever unless it continues to evolve. Its engine and gameplay may be stellar, but the series runs the risk of becoming stale if they put out a similar product each and every year. We've gone from numerous WWII games to Modern Warfare, then back to WWII, back to Modern Warfare, and now the Cold War. What's next for the series? We take a look at the odds.

World War I

Odds: Unlikely

World War II is one of the most fascinating events in human history, which is why it's still seen over 60 years later in just about every form of media imaginable. World War I, on the other hand...not so much. An Austrian dude got assassinated, a submarine sank, and there was a bunch of mustard gas. Not exactly as interesting as the atomic bomb, Hitler, Pearl Harbor, and D-Day. Because of that, the odds of a Call of Duty set in this war are fairly slim.

Vietnam

Odds: Somewhat unlikely

We understand why so many games are set in World War II, but we don't really understand why more aren't set in 'Nam. It's an interesting war that lends itself to a markedly different style of warfare, yet it hasn't been utilized that much. Battlefield tried it earlier in the decade and is returning with the Bad Company 2 expansion, but COD has only just now addressed it in Black Ops. If it weren't for the fact that they did in fact have Vietnam missions in Black Ops, we'd say a fully Vietnam-based game was the logical next step. However, the odds are significantly diminished thanks to its recent appearance.

Sci-Fi

Odds: Somewhat likely

Call of Duty started as a series that predominately featured real historical battles recreated in video game form. As time has gone by, however, that's not always the case anymore. The Modern Warfare games are entirely fictional, Treyarch has included a loony zombie mode in two games, and Black Ops features many fictional events within a real-world framework. Seeing as how they've gradually moved more into the fictional realm, it wouldn't surprise us in the least for the series to move into the future with a sci-fi installment. It could be set a couple of hundred years in the future on Earth, or it could even be an entirely new universe with laser weapons and aliens. Either way, we'd be very interested in seeing what a sci-fi Call of Duty would look like.

Subscription fees

Odds: Likely

This is the most likely scenario for the next step in Call of Duty, and it would without a doubt be the most unpopular. However, it's entirely possible considering comments made by Bobby Kotick. The company is big on microtransactions and any other source of income, so we're fully expecting their most popular franchise to head in that direction. Black Ops proudly touts "Multiplayer: Free with every copy of Black Ops" on some screens, but don't be surprised if things change in the next couple of years.

Those are just a few possibilities for what's next in the series. Where would you like to see it head?