It's the eternal struggle of being a Call of Duty fan. Just when you're getting used to the latest installment — say, 2019's Modern WarfareWarzone, or their many season updates — a new one is always just around the horizon. Activision just announced (via IGN) the next title of their long-running FPS franchise. Get ready to duck and cover for Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War.

As implied by that title, this installment will take place during the fraught period in 20th century global history when the United States and the Soviet Union were at the brink of nuclear devastation. The rise of McCarthyism, the Bay of Pigs, the fall of the Berlin Wall — all of these hugely formative moments happened during the umbrella we call the Cold War, a conflict rife with potential energy between ideologically opposed forces. It was called the Cold War because it never out-and-out devolved into a "War," per se... but something tells me this CoD entry's gonna rewrite that.

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Image via Activision

This also marks the re-entry into Call of Duty's sub-franchise, the Black Ops series. We've previously seen 2010's Black Ops, 2012's Black Ops II, 2015's Black Ops III, and 2018's Black Ops 4. I particularly enjoy these titles because of their emphasis on, and willingness to explore, the secretive, guerilla warfare aspects of geopolitical conflicts with a relative honesty on their moral problematics. Setting this kind of sub-franchise during the Cold War feels like an organic move, and it will be intriguing to see how co-developers Treyarch and Raven will explore the world for their publisher Activision. Plus: The Black Ops series introduced the idea of "specialists" with different skills to the CoD franchise, which leads me to wonder what kind of spy shenanigans we'll get this go around, and whether they will be in this game's version of Warzone.

No release or console specifics have yet been announced for Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War, but a cryptic teaser trailer (via GameSpot) using real-world historical footage — and announcing a worldwide reveal on August 26th — is below. For more on all things CoD, here's some league playoff details.