It is clear that Activision is gearing up for the launch of 2024's Call of Duty entry, given the recent announcement that an upcoming Xbox Direct will be followed by another presentation dedicated to one game. While this game has not been officially confirmed by Xbox, fans are all but certain that the Direct presentation will give them the first real glimpses of this year's CoD, with a big hint potentially being present in the background of the announcement.

The promotional image for the alleged upcoming Call of Duty Direct features a wolf's head in the background, which many think has some hidden meaning for this year's upcoming release. With that being said, wolf iconography was a huge part of the pre-release theories concerning 2012's Black Ops 2, and recent rumors surrounding a sequel to the game may explain the wolf imagery within the ambiguous announcement.

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The Wolf in Call of Duty's Rumored Announcement May Hold Relevance Beyond 2024

The recently announced Xbox Games Showcase is set to take place on June 9, with the currently anonymous follow-up Direct being set to happen right after the show. The name of the Direct and the game it is in relation to has been redacted in its promotional imagery, although some keen-eyed fans are very sure that it will finally reveal the details about this year's Call of Duty.

It is already known that Treyarch is in charge of this year's entry to the FPS giant, with the orange theme of the promotional art and the redacted information being synonymous with the studio's massively successful Black Ops games. Pre-existing theories and rumors behind 2024's CoD stated that it would belong to the Black Ops franchise, supposedly set during the Gulf War, and the promotional image for the upcoming Direct seemingly corroborates the Black Ops link at the very least.

Black Ops 2 Could Be Very Important For the Near Future of Call of Duty

The center-piece of the promotional image is a snarling wolf with its teeth bared. Some fans believe that this relates to a currently unknown group that will be at the core of this year's Call of Duty narrative. However, long-time fans may remember that the original codename for Black Ops 2 prior to its release was Iron Wolf, with players at the time debating what kind of game this codename could be alluding to.

The longstanding internal association with Black Ops and wolves within Treyarch seemingly gives more credence to this year's Call of Duty belonging to the sub-franchise, and this could have implications for 2025's CoD release if it ends up holding weight. Recent rumors suggest that 2025's Call of Duty will be a direct sequel to Black Ops 2, set roughly five years after the events of the 2012 title, and the upcoming Direct's wolf imagery could be a nod to this.

Xbox took a similar standalone Direct approach with Starfield, and it makes a lot of sense that the first CoD to fall under the Microsoft name will receive the same prestigious treatment. While it seems likely that the promo for this presentation indicates a 2024 Black Ops title, the wolf imagery in particular could be a well-played callback to Black Ops 2 and the importance that the title will have on the events of 2025's Call of Duty installment.