Gameplay from a canceled Call of Duty project, codenamed NX1, has surfaced online, revealing former Guitar Hero developer Neversoft’s efforts to create a futuristic game in the franchise.
THE leaked footageshared by the Twitter account @mangafigurines (via IGN), it showed off an explosive mission to the moon in low gravity conditions for a game called Call of Duty: Future Warfare.
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Brian Bright, the project’s multiplayer lead, confirmed the footage’s authenticity, explaining that Neversoft moved on from the Guitar Hero franchise to develop its own futuristic Call of Duty game following the departure of Infinity Ward’s co-founders in 2010.
The canceled NX1 project aimed to replace Infinity Ward’s Ghosts, featuring a mission to the moon and some completed campaign missions and multiplayer work.
Additionally, Bright stated that Neversoft faced challenges as it did not have a consistent art team during multiplayer development, using assets from Modern Warfare 2 for the Sandstorm map and Escort mode.
Further leaked footage revealed a canceled War mode for Treyarch’s Black Ops 4 in 2018, mirroring the WWII squad-based variant.
These revelations suggest that Call of Duty could have taken a different direction last generation if Neversoft had successfully released its main game, potentially altering the trajectory of the franchise’s move into futuristic warfare.
However, Neversoft was eventually absorbed by Infinity Ward in 2014, forming a “super studio”, and the NX1 project has become a footnote in video game history.
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Image credits: JOCA_PH on Shutterstock.