A few days ago, Microsoft cut 1,900 team members from its gaming division, and it was later reported that the recently acquired studios from Activision Blizzard got the brunt of the layoffs, including from its many Call of Duty development teams.
Even with these cuts, the Call of Duty franchise will likely remain as one of the biggest in the game industry for some time to come. Along with all of the games that have been released, there have been a few that didn't get the green light. One game that has come to light this weekend was code-named "NX1" and it would have taking the series to space well before the launch of Infinite Warfare in 2016.
Fuck it, NX1. pic.twitter.com/KDPh6pwHxn
— Josh H. (@mangafigurines) January 27, 2024
AN X (formerly Twitter) user named "Josh H" (via Charlie Intel) posted over two minutes of footage from NX1. It showed a sequence on Earth's moon where space-suited people were getting shot at outside a moon base in low gravity. The player character manages to get inside, only to deal with another attack that causes a major environmental branch in the base.
The release of the footage was confirmed by a former developer at Neversoft, Brian Bright, on his X account. Activision had decided to give Neversoft, who previously had made games in the Guitar Hero series, a chance to make a Call of Duty game, following the 2010 time period where a large number of Infinity Ward team members left to form Respawn.
I believe this would have been in place of Ghosts, trying to remember. We had 2-3 campaign missions, and a bunch of MP work done (I was mp lead on this) before cancellation. One thing we really liked in mp was the first Escort mode in COD. There is footage out there on this 👀.
— Brian Bright (@BrianBright) January 28, 2024
Bright also confirmed that the game was supposed to be launched in 2013, but Activision decided to go with Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Ghosts game instead. He added that Neversoft had complete work on " 2-3 campaign missions, and a bunch of MP work done" before Activision canceled the project. He added, "One thing we really liked in mp was the first Escort mode in COD. There is footage out there on this." Neversoft was officially shut down in 2014, after working with Sledgehammer Games on Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
As it stands this brief footage of NX1 certainly looks like the concept had lots of potential, and it's a shame we didn't get to see more of it.
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