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New Call Of Duty to be revealed as series battles the rise of Fortnite

The long-standing shooter game has a new challenger.
The long-standing shooter game has a new challenger. The long-standing shooter game has a new challenger.

The next instalment in the multibillion-pound Call Of Duty video game franchise will be unveiled on Thursday, as the series attempts to face down competition from new games such as Fortnite.

Call Of Duty’s various titles have sold in excess of 250 million copies since first appearing in 2003 and the game is regarded as one of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time.

However, the first-person shooter game now faces strong competition from Fortnite, the free-to-play online battle royale title that has gathered a legion of players – with even England star Dele Alli live-streaming himself playing the game and using in-game victory dances in goal celebrations.

The game’s last-player-standing tactics and accessibility on mobile devices and consoles have made it popular among teenage gamers as well as seasoned players.

Call Of Duty publisher Activision and developer Treyarch will unveil the next game in the series during a fan event in Los Angeles, with some reports suggesting it may include a battle royale mode of its own.

The game, which will be called Black Ops 4, will go on sale in October.

Few other details about Black Ops 4 are known; however, a shake-up of the gameplay has been teased under the tagline “forget what you know”.

The event may also be used to discuss plans for a mobile version of the Call Of Duty series.

It comes after a job listing for a designer to work on such a project was spotted on the website of mobile games developer King, the maker of Candy Crush and a company acquired by Activision for more than £4 billion in 2016.