Call of Duty fans have begun to cast their eyes forward to CoD 2021, thought to be a WWII game called Vanguard. But what is Slipstream, and how does it tie into Sledgehammer Games’ third independently developed CoD title?
Details have begun to eke out for Call of Duty 2021, which is to be developed by Sledgehammer Games, it will be set in World War II and will allegedly be called Vanguard.
A lot remains unclear about the game but, like past Call of Duty titles, many expect it to have an early-access beta, perhaps based on pre-orders.
We might be on our way to getting an Alpha for CoD: Vanguard, though, if recent leaks are to be believed. That’s where Slipstream comes in.
Sledgehammer’s latest title was Call of Duty WWII, with 2021’s game also thought to be set in the same era.What is Slipstream and how does it tie into CoD 2021?
Twitter user Helba, who runs a service that tracks additions to the Battle.net store, noticed that files under the code name ‘Slipstream’ had been added alongside new Call of Duty 2021 assets.
Slipstream is subsequently thought to be a code name for the CoD 2021 Alpha, which will potentially be open to players in a similar fashion to Black Ops Cold War’s.
Details have not yet been confirmed, but Betas and Alphas have become fairly common ahead of Call of Duty launches.
#CallofDuty what is this logo that was slated right along side Call of Duty 2021 assets in https://t.co/DZWiyUuqNz pic.twitter.com/cjxK7eOMC2
— Helba (@Helba_The_AI) June 30, 2021
Call of Duty 2021 ‘Slipstream’ Alpha details, platforms, and leaks
While plenty remains unclear about Slipstream and any CoD 2021 Alpha, we can speculate based on past Alpha launches. Black Ops Cold War launched in November, as CoD 2021 is expected to.
Treyarch dropped the Alpha in September of 2020 – roughly two months before its full launch. The Beta came in October. As such, we can expect a CoD 2021 Alpha in early fall, with a Beta likely following shortly after.
Finally, CoD players, specifically those on Xbox, will be wondering whether they’ll be able to get their hands on early access Call of Duty. Activision’s partnership with Sony has seen Playstation players given early and exclusive content for some time. We have also received confirmation of the Slipstream file name being added into the Playstation Store.
🚨 Update 01.001.000 Released.
⬛ New Size : 35.334 GB
🟧 #slipstream #callofduty #COD2021 https://t.co/hIC7kYRQ6F pic.twitter.com/leyrcW2Y44
— PlayStation Game Size (@PlaystationSize) July 2, 2021
Past years have seen the Alpha live for a couple of weekends, with the first exclusively for Playstation players. Whether this follows the same pattern remains to be seen, but we expect to see some level of exclusivity and extra content given to those on Sony platforms.
Battle.net, while not a Sony platform, is owned by Activision Blizzard, so could also get in on early or exclusive content.
While fans will undoubtedly get excited, it’s important to take these leaks with a pinch of salt until Activision or Sledgehammer officially confirm what they all mean for players.
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