Could we really see a throwback to the old days of the franchise with a proper sequel set in World War 2? When EA made the first game in the series – “Battlefield 1942” – free, the huge surge of interest in it was a clear indication that the idea still has a lot of potential. Although, back then some argued that this interest was more the result of nostalgia.
Since then, the game was taken down due to the shutdown of the GameSpy service which it relied on, but the memory still lives on, and many gamers would apparently love to see EA reviving their classic ideas with a fresh coat of paint. There are even some fan-made projects that follow the spirit of the original “Battlefield 1942” with a more modern look, but of course nothing fans can do will compare to the work of the original developers themselves. On the other hand, this is not Valve who hire community contributors on their official projects.
It’s also worth remembering that “Call of Duty” has its origins in such a setting as well, and it’s entirely possible that Activision could decide to take their franchise in this direction too, but there haven’t been any rumors in this regard.
Plus, the style of “Call of Duty” would probably make it more difficult for the studio to go back to World War 2, as the fast-paced arcade-style shooter is arguably more suited for the kind of gameplay that modern (and future) technology allows for. Many people see “Call of Duty” as a spiritual successor to arcade arena shooters like “Quake” although with a much more casual tone, and Activision have actually been handling the franchise quite well over its last 1-2 iterations, so keeping the current style could make sense.