Call of Duty NEXT 2022

It finally arrived, Activision's brand-new Call of Duty NEXT event. NEXT was a showcase dedicated to unveiling upcoming projects within the massive Call of Duty franchise. But what did this year's event focus on and what new information were we given?

Well, Activision and Infinity Ward really didn't hold back with this initial NEXT showcase, and there were plenty of new features revealed. Honestly, more than I can form into a coherent article, however, here are the things that caught my eye.

Along with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022), there was also Warzone 2.0, and both will have a bunch of interesting new aspects to get involved with, including play styles, field gadgets, and weapons. There are "drill charges" that bore through surfaces and explode on the other side, and a spy camera system that can be deployed and whose view can be shared amongst your team. There are also inflatable decoys and even the heartbeat sensor from the original Modern Warfare 2 (2009) makes a return.

Not only all that, but water has had a huge overhaul too. Players can now swim, or use a range of water-based vehicles, and engage in "aquatic combat". Water can be utilised as your shroud, your shield, or your point of attack. Although you can't use primary weapons while underwater, you can deploy a special floating mine to sink attacking boats.

Some other interesting elements are: a fully integrated third person perspective, a ledge-hang — where you can pop up and attack nearby enemies, and quick-use sidearms — where you're able to use a pistol without completely switching out your primary weapon.

There was also a very quick mention of Gunsmith 2.0, which briefly covered how the attachments work. F.Y.I. for you familiar players, it's being slightly reworked to be less grindy. Some attachments, when unlocked, can be used on multiple weapons rather than everything having to be unlocked individually.

We were not only given a brief look at a couple of new maps, including Warzone 2.0's Al Mazrah, but we were also given a peek at a couple of game modes too. One, known as Invasion, involves fighting off groups of NPC enemies. While another PvP mode involves rescuing and escaping with a hostage. One team attempts a rescue and the other attempts to stop it.

More Warzone 2.0-specific features will be a "twist" on the Gulag system — which forces temporary teams to form and fall, a new proximity chat implementation, and reworked progression milestones. Loot in the world has also been reworked to be more logical. Health items are now found in cabinets in bathrooms and weapons in old military weapons crates. These also don't change spawn locations between games and are fixed to force players together. Warzone 2.0 will arrive 16th of November.

Concerning PlayStation exclusive content, not only Beta Access began on the 16th of September, but the Oni Operator and his associated weapon bundle will be exclusive from day one. Good news for PlayStation players.

We also saw some Warzone Mobile, which will allow up to 120 human players to battle across Verdansk. You can connect to other devices using your Call of Duty account and still have access to your Battle Pass. It will also have mobile exclusive content — but they did not go into any details. This will be released next year.

That's all we learned during this year's NEXT, and, honestly, what I've seen cannot arrive quickly enough. Unfortunately, it focused exclusively on multiplayer content, but I suppose that is the franchise's bread and butter. Nonetheless, I hope the showcase quenched your thirst for Call of Duty information; roll on the end of 2022 and some great new Call of Duty content. You can watch the new multiplayer trailer here, which shows off a bunch of the previously mentioned aspects.