We’re in the home stretch. Activision President Rob Kostich made it clear that we’d get an official announcement “fairly soon” about the next Call of Duty title during the publisher’s most recent earnings call. We thought that might mean later this month, but that announcement might be coming sooner than expected.

Call of Duty fansite Charlie Intel recently got a present from Activision. It’s a wooden crate that has been padlocked close, and all we can tell of its contents is some loose straw that’s hanging out the side. “Do not open this crate until August 10 at 12PM ET,” reads a note on top of the crate along with a phone number to text on Monday. The code that’s sent back in response will open the padlock to reveal the crate’s contents.

Many on Twitter note that there’s a far simpler method to get inside that crate, but publisher tend to get a little peeved when outlets break embargo dates, and this is most certainly an embargo even if Activision didn’t necessarily call it that.

We’re almost certain to get a big reveal on Monday for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. This is almost the exact same way that Activision teased the latest trailer for the upcoming Crash Bandicoot game, substituting a puzzle for the crate.

Although Activision has yet to make the official announcement, various leaks have stated that Call of Duty 2020 will be called Black Ops Cold War. The latest is a Doritos promotional campaign leak that dropped the game’s name on the front of a bag of chips.

We also know that whatever plans Activision has for Black Ops Cold War, it’ll definitely tie into Warzone, the wildly popular free-to-play battle royale game that was introduced with the reboot of Modern Warfare. Activision touted during their recent earnings call that there are 75 million Warzone players who would be easy to advertise to in order get word of the latest Call of Duty game into the eyes of players.

Season 5 of Call of Duty: Warzone recently arrived with a brand new open stadium, an armored train traveling around Verdansk, and a brand new weapon blueprint. Expect more easter eggs in the coming days as players scour the map for clues on what to expect in Black Ops Cold War.

Source: Charlie Intel