Is That Black Ops III We’re Hearing?

Update: Activision’s now confirmed via its blog that Call of Duty: Black Ops II developer Treyarch’s indeed heading development for Call of Duty: Black Ops III. Where the story will see us off to, no one knows yet. Stay tuned.

Original Story: In case you haven’t heard by now, it’s been a while since we’ve had a Call of Duty locked and loaded for release – almost six months, in fact, since newcomer Sledgehammer Games blew stuff up with Troy Baker and Kevin Spacey. In that time, the Internet’s been going crazy with rumors regarding what might be the series’ next entry. I mean, really crazy, because fans are already hearing voices. Literally.

In recent days, eagle-eyed fans still firing away at Call of Duty: Black Ops II‘s multiplayer have uncovered some incriminating easter eggs pointing to what’s been largely assumed to be Black Ops III. In the video below courtesy of YouTuber Drift0r’s detective work, you can see what appear to be some brand new QR codes sneakily placed over innocent-looking make-up marquises in the game’s Cayman Islands plaza.

As Drift0r goes onto say at around the 40 second mark, scanning and uploading these QR codes to snapchat will “Call of Duty is already your friend” and sends you a host of perplexing screens you can see below. No other easer eggs of the type have showed up in any other Call of Duty thus far, just Black Ops II, seemingly indicating that these QR codes have meaning to it in particular – i.e. a sequel.

Drift0r also notes that, curiously, the QR codes were not made available in-game on the PC update of Black Ops II, just consoles. Whether that means a potential sequel is coming to PC on time or not at all is something of a question mark.

If you scan the codes as directed, you’ll get a variety of images teasing…something as you see below.

Above: An eye, a lone tree in a possible tundra, and almost what looks like an Endor-style forest.

In the second batch of images, you can see a variety of even more distinctly rural settings complete with some obscured lighting in the tradition of the grainy “top secret” footage the original Black Ops‘ conspiracy cutscenes was known for. A helicopter can be seen in the top left corner and right below it, some crows ominously flying in the distance.

There’s also a dog-tag with the inscription “Dr. Salim” on it. A new character, we presume? It’s further theorized that that white dot you see in the middle is some sort of lunar imagery.

In the third batch of images, we can see some more crows, snow-capped forest, and intense lighting in tandem with some Matrix-style digital rain.

More interestingly in the fourth collection of sreens, we see what some have theorized is some sort of solar flare imagery in the top right corner. Allegedly, murmurings on Reddit have tied the next Call of Duty to “Project Solaris,” a plot line involving a corona that wipes out much of the world’s future technologies, pitting nation against nation in a war for survival. Typical post-apocalyptic stuff, basically.

Among the videos, one snapchat “story” provides a voice-over by an assumed character saying “Let your thoughts drift…let the bad memories fade…let peace be upon you.” Hypnotism? Is that where Dr. Salim ties in, maybe? Another eight-second clip says, “Our greatest barrier is our own fear….our own doubts.”

The story doesn’t end there, though. Just today, Element on Twitter provided one doozy of a headliner courtesy of Call of Duty fan site charlieINTEL. It appears that the next Call of Duty’s first official marketing image and possible cover art has surfaced and it’s got a honk’in big “III” in the foreground.

Roman numerals? Tough guy sulking with two guns? If historical precedent is any indication, that sure sounds like Call of Duty cover art. Clearly it’s a sequel of some kind and the there aren’t many Call of Duty sub-series yet to have a third entry.

Whatever it is, further images are teasing a worldwide reveal for this upcoming April 26th. For reference, it’ll be one year come May that Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was announced (and leaked) by Activision and the Internet’s eager beavers.

What do you think the next Call of Duty is about? Could it stick to the series’ current future obsessions or could a period-piece crossover be possible akin to Black Ops II‘s time-jumping? Share your thoughts with us down below and buckle up. It’s about to get really Call of Duty in here.

Via charlieINTEL & Drift0r on YouTube