Call of Duty developer Treyarch has announced the return of the Pawn Takes Pawn alternate reality game (ARG), which began as a lead up to the launch of Black Ops Cold War. Pawn Takes Pawn began on August 10th, and has received over a dozen updates since. The next part of the game will begin on Wednesday, October 28th.
The game’s return was revealed on Twitter yesterday, with a video of a hooded figure speaking to the camera. With a distorted voice, the character says the game felt “so real.” He describes himself as a “troublemaker that doesn’t know when to stop” before introducing himself as William Bowman.
William mentions his dad, Joseph Bowman, in the teaser video. Joseph Bowman made his first appearance as a SOG operative in the 2010 title Call of Duty: Black Ops. You work closely with the character throughout Black Ops, before he is ultimately killed by the Russian Spetsnaz operative. Bowman’s son now makes his appearance as the leader behind the Pawn Takes Pawn ARG, potentially looking to follow in his father’s footsteps or avenge his father’s death.
The Pawn Takes Pawn ARG launched back in August, when a number of big YouTube personalities and game journalists received boxes that were not to be opened until a certain time. Once opened, the boxes were revealed to contain a slide projector with ten slides, and a manifest. “These are TOP SECRET documents containing compartmentalized information essential to national security,” the manifest read, urging the recipients of the boxes to distribute the information they'd received.
The slides included maps and different codes, which revealed certain sentences once deciphered. A website and further codes were found and decoded as the game continued on. Like most ARGs, the game has required a lot of participation from fans. Players were sent emails earlier this month with instructions on how to find their “decompiler key” for a portion of the game’s website.
There’s no telling what will happen in the upcoming chapter of Pawn Takes Pawn. Now with the gamemaster’s identity revealed, and with Black Ops Cold War releasing soon, the story may ramp up to something even more exciting.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will release for Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5, and PC on November 13th.
Source: Treyarch