Gentlemen and lady astronauts, I bring sad tidings: Activision will never, seemingly, publish a game called Call of Duty: Space Warfare. It won't publish a game called Call of Duty: Secret Warfare, either, so you can cut that lurking in the shadows out right now, stealth enthusiasts. There will, however, very definitely be a Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - the latter was unveiled to a disbelieving world last week. And there could yet be a Call of Duty: Future Warfare, though Activision needs to get its skates on if this is to happen. Trademark applications for all four were filed one auspicious day in May 2010. Alas, the Secret Warfare and Space Warfare filings were abandoned in August 2013. Advanced Warfare, obviously, has flourished into a Real Game. And Future Warfare? It's still on the cards. Just. Registrees are required by US law to publish a statement of use - a breakdown of their intentions, or in this case, something near to a concrete brief for a forthcoming game - in order to keep hold of a trademark. They can, however, apply for a six month reprieve up to five times in total. Activision was been its fifth extension for both "Call of Duty: Future Warfare" and "Future Warfare" in January 2014, which means that it'll need to file a statement of intent by July. Could Future Warfare be the name of next year's Call of Duty - a game that will presumably be developed by Call of Duty: Black Ops outfit Treyarch? It's not impossible, though the truth may be more pedestrian - "Future Warfare" could simply be another possible title for this year's Advanced Warfare, which takes place in the year 2054. Still, Advanced Warfare is still notionally a contemporary game, one that leans on the antics of real-world private military corporations like the infamous Blackwater. Fans of Battlefield 2142, Halo and the like may wish to mull over the idea of a Call of Duty that cuts all links to the present day. Me, I'll be over here mourning the demise of Call of Duty: Space Warfare - a game that, according to the disturbed meanderings of my imagination, would have starred the woefully neglected Bruce Campbell as a Martian with an abiding and inexplicable hatred of men who wear beanies. Source - OXM
