Call Of Duty Studio Hiring For “Open-World RPG”

The studio best known for its action-packed shooter series Call of Duty appears to be exploring something else entirely. A job posting at Infinity Ward’s Poland branch is seeking a key position for what it describes as an “open-world RPG.”

The position (via Charlie Intel), which appears to have been pulled from the careers site, is for a Narrative Director. Details on the project are sparse, but it says that this is an unannounced AAA project, and the candidate will have experience with non-linear narratives in open-world games.

This would appear to be a big departure from the Call of Duty series, which often has a relatively linear story. It’s hard to say just how deep the RPG roots will go, though, as that could describe anything from a traditional turn-based game to something more like Ubisoft’s The Division. And though Infinity Ward is best known for its realistic military shooters, it’s not clear if this would be set in the Call of Duty universe, or even if it would take place in a realistic world at all.

Meanwhile, Infinity Ward’s next game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, is releasing on October 28. We’ve gotten a number of details on the campaign and multiplayer, as well as some modes and features that will be absent from this year’s installment. We also recently learned that Warzone 2.0 will coexist alongside 1.0 going forward, with their own progression tracks.

This may be the last Call of Duty game released before Microsoft finalizes its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which came amid ongoing legal trouble for the publisher centered around harassment and a toxic work culture. Microsoft has already signaled that it intends to continue releasing Call of Duty on PlayStation platforms after the acquisition.