Next Call of Duty Will Skip Jetpacks After Critics Hated Them
It seems that the next Call of Duty game will keep its feet planted on the ground, as a tweet from a Treyarch design director vehemently denies that it will feature jetpacks. Present in some Call of Duty games set in the future, such as Treyarch’s Black Ops 3, jetpacks were a controversial addition to the franchise. Though some fans praised how jetpacks added new traversal options, the response to their inclusion was mostly negative.
The most recent entry in the franchise, 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, was set in the present day, doing away with any of the futuristic tech seen in other games in the series. It’s also gotten mostly positive reviews, including Screen Rant’s 4/5 star review calling it “an exceptional shooter.” Because of Call of Duty’s complicated round-robin style development strategy, Modern Warfare was developed by Infinity Ward rather than Treyarch, but it’s likely that Treyarch will look to the game’s success for cues on how to approach their follow-up. Treyarch’s 2018 release, Black Ops 4, also did away with jetpacks, so it seems that the developer was already tiring of them after their poor reception in Black Ops 3.
Treyarch hasn’t officially said whether jetpacks will appear in its next Call of Duty game, but a series of tweets from design director David Vonderhaar make it clear that he has no plans to include them. He responded to a fan’s out of the blue demand for jetpacks in the next Call of Duty simply with the word “NO,” then in a later tweet references the fan response to them by saying, “Such short-term memories. You hung me from the highest branch.”
Replies to Vonderhaar’s tweet show a fanbase split over the controversial movement mechanics of games like Black Ops 3. While there are plenty of responses from people saying they’re glad that jetpacks aren’t making a comeback, seemingly just as many fans say they’ll miss jetpacks if they’re gone for good. Some even specifically reference enjoying them in previous Treyarch games, despite the initial response to Black Ops 3 seeming like the reason why jetpacks are out in the first place.
While nothing has been firmly revealed about the next Call of Duty at this point, it’s safe to assume that it won’t include jetpacks. Replies to Vonderhaar’s tweet are interesting for how they paint a picture of a divided fanbase, but by singling out player backlash as the reason for keeping jetpacks out of the next Call of Duty, Vonderhaar also hints at the grim reality of just how much personal harassment modern developers are forced to contend with.
The next Call of Duty game developed by Treyarch has not been announced yet.
Source: David Vonderhaar/Twitter