Call of Duty teases Squid Game crossover for early next year
Netflix and kill.
There's another Call of Duty collaboration on the way. Following crossovers from the likes of Tomb Raider, Crash Bandicoot, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Boys, Activision has revealed it's teaming up with Netflix to shove the streaming service's hugely popular Squid Game TV series into Black Ops 6 and Warzone early next year.
Squid Game, which follows a group of players attempting to survive a series of deadly children's games in order to win a BIG CASH PRIZE, took the world by storm when it first aired on Netflix back in 2021. It's been a long time coming, but the show is finally set to return for a second series on 26th December, and Netflix's promotional efforts are now in full swing.
And so enter Call of Duty. Activision unveiled its impending Squid Game crossover via a thirty second teaser trailer, in which a dashingly behatted Operator discovers a mysterious envelope emblazoned with symbols one 'X' away from a PlayStation copyright claim. It all ends with the Call of Duty logo emerging in a sequence reminiscent of Squid Game's opening titles, after which we're informed the collaboration is set to begin in January 2025.
Beyond that, specifics are limited to the point of non-existent. We do know the crossover is coming to both Black Ops 6 and Warzone early next year, but whether it'll offer anything more substantial than romper-suit-style premium cosmetics remains to be seen.
Call of Duty's Squid Game collaboration won't be the first digital take on the hit Korean television show to barrel out in conjunction with Netflix's season two promotions, however. The streaming service's own internally developed Squid Game Unleashed - a multiplayer "party royale" for iOS and Android devices - launches for subscribers on 17th December. It's just one of more than 80 titles currently in development as part of Netflix's continuing push into the world of gaming, although one of its most intriguing projects - a new AAA game led by Halo creative head Joseph Staten - has now been cancelled.
As for Call of Duty, it seems to be having a strong 2024. Microsoft recently announced Black Ops 6 managed to set a record for most "Game Pass subscribers adds on launch day" - a record previously held by Starfield following its launch last year.