Call of Duty: Black Ops fans may want to keep an eye on an upcoming PS5 exclusive. Like most AAA studios, Treyarch has been bleeding talent. The latest notable departure is Tony Flame, who has left behind the Call of Duty series after spending 17 years with it, with the end of his time coming alongsideย Call of Duty: Black Cold War, which he served on as lead game designer. Over the years at Activision, he’s worked on every Black Ops game as a designer, minus the first game, which he was just a scripter on. Before this, he had his hands on Call of Duty: World War, Call of Duty 3, and Call of Duty 2. He’s a veteran developer, and going to be a big loss for Treyarch, and a big gain from Deviation Games, a recently-formed studio that already has Call of Duty pedigree. And as you may know, it’s partnered with PlayStation for a new game.ย
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What this game is going to be, we don’t know. All that’s been said about it is that it is a “groundbreaking AAA original intellectual property.” However, the founders of the studio are Dave Anthony and Jason Blundell, two other Treyarch veterans. Add Flame to this mix, plus a few other hires, and it’s increasingly obvious a competitive shooter is in the works, likely of the first-person variety, or at least this is what all the pedigree suggests.ย
Flame has yet to make the announcement himself, but Deviation Games confirmed the appointment this week over on LinkedIn. What position Flame will hold, remains to be seen, but it’s safe to assume it will be at least equal, if not greater, than the position he held at Treyarch.
It’s been roughly a year since Deviation Games revealed itself and revealed it was working with PlayStation. We’ve yet to see the fruits of this partnership, and there’s no suggestion this will change anytime soon. That said, the partnership — and what is presumably the first-person shooter the studio is working on — couldn’t come at a better time with Microsoft on course to soon own Activision Blizzard, which means on course to soon own Call of Duty.
