Call of Duty: Black Ops III, anyone? That’s the presumptive punchline at the end of Activision’s trippy teaser for a new game, which not-so-cryptically sports the hashtag #backinblack, making this either the third installment in the mega-publisher’s storied spy-thriller shooter Call of Duty sub-series, or a really weird promo for a joint endeavor with AC/DC.
But surely the Roman numerology at the end (“III”) gives it away, if not the callout to “Mason” (as in Black Ops mainstay Alex Mason) at the beginning. And the line “Everything you know is wrong” makes it sound like the game’s going to be bouncing Mason off the whole introspective ret-con trope.
Symbols, GPS coordinates and looping lines of letters and numbers fill the screen as sinister Dr. Evil-ish voices threaten and goad. It’s an Internet sleuth’s dream come true, even if the end result of all the busywork’s something like “Mother may I have the next clue, please?” We should know more on April 26, the game’s official worldwide reveal.
As for the question “The numbers Mason, what do they mean?,” someone get Damon Lindelof or Carlton Cuse on the horn.
Update: Activision has now confirmedCall of Duty: Black Ops III is happening, longtime developer Treyarch’s helming, and we’ll see it this year.