Call of Duty: The Board Game's inexplicable Kickstarter has finally gotten a release date

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Ghost Gaze

(Image credit: Activision)

What if you could deploy white phosphorus in Monopoly? This is the question that only Call of Duty: The Board Game is brave enough to ask. After teasing its (bizarre) crowdfunding campaign back in April this year, the tabletop version of COD has now put a solid date on the launch of its Kickstarter: It'll drop on August 1, giving you a chance to kick a few bucks towards helping this little indie franchise realise its dream of board game stardom.

"Base game pre-orders and additional Kickstarter pledge tiers will become available" when the Kickstarter commences, says the press guff, "with a worldwide retail release planned for 2024".

Until then, you're encouraged (by them, I'm not really involved either way) to sign up to their mailing list in order to nab yourself a "K-9 Unit promo mini and Killstreak". What does a killstreak even mean in the context of a board game? I have no idea, but I hope it involves screaming "Counter UAV!" as I poke my fellow players in the eye.

I am actually curious to see what this thing looks like when it comes out. As a recent convert to the videogame version of COD, I'd like to know how the board game's makers at Arcane Wonders translate its fast-paced, twitchy gameplay to the sedate pace of a board game. Of course, the answer may be that they don't: Most of the marketing materials emphasise planning and strategy over nailing a kill because you have a 2% faster ADS speed than the other guy.

In fact, here's what the Call of Duty board game lists as its "key features":

Become an Elite Operator: Legendary soldiers forged in war, customized for battle with signature weapons and unique combat skills.
Select Your Mission: Choose from a wide array of iconic maps with a variety of intense game modes, including team-based objectives.
Plan Your Attack: Secretly and simultaneously plot your moves using a simple and intuitive action system.
Pull the Trigger: Catch your enemies off guard, then blow them away by choosing the perfect combo of battle cards and dice.

Sounds a bit more measured than your standard round on Shipment. We'll find out more when the game's Kickstarter—just to reiterate, a Kickstarter for a game tied to a billion-dollar franchise—hits in August.

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.