‘Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’ announced, coming Nov. 4

Call of Duty is headed to space.

Confirming a week’s worth of leaks, Activision has formally revealed the next game in its ridiculously popular first-person shooter franchise: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. It’s due to launch Nov. 4 for the PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

The new game, developed by Infinity Ward, is indeed reaching past our mess of a planet and taking players into orbit for some zero-gravity action.

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(Image: Activision)

It’s all very Battlestar Galactica, though the developers are quick to point out that Infinite Warfare is still very much a Call of Duty game.

“On one hand, this game is the kind of gritty, boots-on-the-ground, visceral war story that Call of Duty is known for,” said Dave Stohl, studio head of Infinity Ward. “On the other, its future setting takes players on a journey of epic scale and proportions, providing incredible gameplay innovations and new experiences for our fans. This is a grand-scale, old-school, all-out war in an epic new-school setting. And it’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun.”

Two “epics” and one “visceral?” Them’s fightin’ words, for sure.

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(Image: Activision)

Though Infinite Warfare’s specific time period has yet to be revealed, Activision has sketched out basics of the futuristic plot. Ever the greedy species, mankind has depleted Earth’s natural resources and colonized the solar system. As the captain of the Retribution warship, players will lead the fight against the insurgent Settlement Defense Front by taking aim with futuristic munitions and high-speed spaceships.

The series has been inching into sci-fi for several years now. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare sent players to 2054 and outfitted them with rocket-boosted exoskeletons. Last year’s Black Ops III pushed the sci-fi flavor even further, pitting man versus machine in a Terminator-like war. Both games enjoyed critical and commercial acclaim and helped right Call of Duty after it stumbled with 2013’s disappointing Call of Duty: Ghosts (incidentally, the last game developed by Infinity Ward).

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(Image: Activision)

Activision also confirmed that various special editions of Infinite Warfare will include a fully remastered take on Infinity Ward’s magnum opus, the game-changing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The remaster will include 10 multiplayer maps alongside the complete single-player campaign, all uprezzed and fancified.

Infinity Ward will be streaming more info about Infinite Warfare on its Twitch channel starting at 10:30 a.m. (PT) today. We should hear much more about Infinite Warfare at Activision’s event during the E3 conference in June.

Ben Silverman is happy Call of Duty is leaving the planet. He’s on Twitter @ben_silverman.