By Sagar V. Mankar Recently several missions from a canceled Call of Duty game, codenamed NX1, have appeared online.
This mysterious project, reportedly titled Call of Duty: Future Warfare, was being developed around 2010 by Neversoft, a studio known for the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series.
Although the game was never officially announced, earlier this year, Brian Bright, a former developer who worked on the project confirmed its existence when its 10-minute gameplay footage leaked online.
The recent leak of gameplay footage of this game, shared by YouTuber Generalkidd, shows three different missions.
These missions even feature voice acting, that even feature voice acting hinting that development had progressed significantly before the game was ultimately shelved.
What Features Did Call of Duty: Future Warfare Have?
Back in January, gameplay footage of NX1 was first leaked on the internet, showcasing the futuristic setting for the COD universe. Later, Brian Bright confirmed that it was indeed their canceled game at Neverasoft studio.
Its gameplay includes:
- Futuristic Setting: Call of Duty: Future Warfare was set in a futuristic world, showcasing a shift from the franchise’s traditional modern warfare and World War II themes. The game aimed to take the series into a sci-fi direction, featuring advanced technology and futuristic combat, similar to Advanced Warfare and Infinite Warfare.
- Moonbase Campaign Mission: This mission featured intense zero-gravity combat and unique elements such as windows being shattered, causing explosive decompression—a survival challenge for players in a space environment. The moon mission also acted as a learning tool for developers to master the game’s engine.
- Remastered Maps from Older CoD Titles: The game was set to feature fan-favorite multiplayer maps from previous Call of Duty games, such as Afghan and Terminal, with updated visuals and futuristic twists.
- Zero-Gravity Combat: The game experimented with zero-gravity environments, especially in missions set in space.
- Destructible Environments: The leaked footage of Future Warfare revealed destructible environments, such as shattering windows leading to dangerous consequences like explosive decompression.
- Innovative Multiplayer Modes: The game was working on an “Escort” multiplayer mode, which later reappeared in Black Ops Cold War in 2020. This mode added a tactical twist to the usual fast-paced multiplayer action.
- Creative Use of Sci-Fi Elements: The game features futuristic weapons, vehicles, and technology that would later appear in other Call of Duty games.
The project started during a time of turmoil at Infinity Ward (original dev of COD for Activision), which led Activision to assign Neversoft to work on NX1.
This brought a unique development challenge for the team, as they had to shift from working on skateboarding and music games to a first-person shooter.
It was meant to replace Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Ghosts in 2013, but Activision ultimately decided to push forward with Ghosts instead. Neversoft was later absorbed into Infinity Ward in 2014.
The game joins the long list of canceled games in the franchise that includes COD: Vietnam, COD: Chine, COD: Combined Forces, COD: Ghosts 2, COD: Black Ops 4 Single Player Campaign. COD: Advanced Warfare 2, and COD: Roman Wars.
Although NX1 was canceled, the series later explored similar sci-fi themes in Advanced Warfare and Infinite Warfare but faced a strong backlash.
Fans of the series can look forward to the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, set to launch on October 25th.