The next Call of Duty will probably be a Black Ops instalment

No need to act surprised, but there's almost certainly gonna be a new Call of Duty game this year. That's not news per se because for all I know, the apocalypse will arrive tomorrow (hopefully after breakfast!), but there's little doubt that the world's most reliable franchise will arrive again this November. The big question is: what sub-brand will it be? Modern Warfare? Advanced Warfare? Ghosts? A return to World War 2?

It looks like we'll see a return to the Black Ops series, if new viral marketing evidence is anything to go by. Activision has sprinkled Snapchat links throughout Black Ops 2 during a recent update, according to the above video by YouTuber Drift0r. The Snapchat link – which works like a QR code – links to the official Call of Duty Snapchat account which suggests that maybe, just maybe, we'll get an announcement via that social media platform at some point in the future. Could it be true?

It makes sense: Black Ops studio Treyarch is developing Call of Duty in 2015. The big question, after ten years of annual Call of Duty games, is whether it will feature an actual dog. That'd be cool. Perhaps a German Shepherd, with realistic fur. Wouldn't that be something.

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Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.