Scrapped Call of Duty RTS pitch could’ve been the next StarCraft
Some Call of Duty devs were 'desperate' to make it happen.
01st Oct 2024 13:45
Image via Activision
Scrapped Call of Duty RTS pitch could’ve been the next StarCraft
Some Call of Duty devs were 'desperate' to make it happen.
01st Oct 2024 13:45
Image via Activision
Activision appears to be gearing up for quite a heavy influx of titles in the next few years, as reports suggest that a new in-house development team has been formed to develop new spin-offs on its already lucrative IPs.
But while a Call of Duty spin-off series doesn't appear to be in this team's locker (rather more Overwatch, Diablo, Spyro, etc.), there have been rumblings of how the franchise could expand through the slits of Ghost's balaclava.
There have been other mentions of Call of Duty spin-offs in years gone by, and it appears some devs were "desperate" for a CoD-themed and StarCraft-esque real-time strategy game. It's quite the mouthful, but at one point, it sounds like some were really sold on the idea.
Activision devs pitched a StarCraft-like Call of Duty RTS
Call of Duty isn't the army-heavy wartime realism simulator that it was originally planned to be, back in the days of Steven Spielberg's Medal of Honor breakaway crew, but the campaign clearly features special ops teams that do the impossible.
According to Jason Schreier, currently of Bloomberg, one Activision developer pitched a number of RTS games to follow on from StarCraft. Unsurprisingly, one of these was Call of Duty.
In a recent AMA Reddit thread promoting his new book, Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future Of Blizzard Entertainment, Schreier claimed that Production Director Tim Morten prototyped and pitched a Call of Duty RTS, among many others.
"Morten and his team tried for years to kick off a new RTS, making all sorts of pitches and prototypes, from Warcraft 4 to even, wildly, a Call of Duty RTS pitch. (He was desperate.)," Schreier wrote.
"But there was no appetite among Blizzard’s executive team for a new RTS game." This was all prior to 2020, as Morten soon left to form Frost Giant and develop a different RTS named Stormgate.
Funnily enough, these two worlds will collide, just in reverse, as Blizzard is reportedly developing a Call of Duty-esque shooter in the StarCraft universe.
While this idea didn't come to fruition, that didn't stop a Call of Duty RPG from coming to life, though. The series was adapted into a tabletop board game last year, and while it might not hit the highs of Black Ops 6, it's interesting to see how the CoDverse is branching out.
About The Author
Jack Marsh
Jack is an Esports Journalist at GGRecon. Graduating from the University of Chester, with a BA Honours degree in Journalism, Jack is an avid esports enthusiast and specialises in Rocket League, Call of Duty, VALORANT, and trending gaming news.
