Activision's GTA 6 and Cyberpunk 'rival' sounded silly until I played Modern Warfare 4

This week there’s been a lot of talk regarding Activision's upcoming Elsewhere RPG, the first game of the internal studio.

Activision Elsewhere was formed in 2024 and tasked with creating and managing a new IP separate from the likes of Call of Duty.

Not much is known about Elsewhere’s first project, but recent reports claim it’ll be a third-person, open-world RPG that many are claiming to be a competitor to Grand Theft Auto VI and Cyberpunk 2077. Here’s why.

Activision Elsewhere’s new job listing suggests its RPG is a GTA 6 successor in the making

As spotted by MP1st, the studio is hiring for an Associate Animation Director to create “believable, reactive, and memorable experiences that bring the game world to life.”

While Elsewhere hasn’t directly stated that it’s building an RPG to compete with the likes of Rockstar, it certainly sounds like it’ll give it a go, for better or worse.

Now, upon reading this for the first time, I’ll be honest and say it sounded laughable. Rockstar Games, CD Projekt RED and even Bethesda have been masters of their respective crafts for many years now.

Grand Theft Auto, The Witcher, The Elder Scrolls, etc., are all the first franchises you’ll think of when open-world games are brought up.

Imagining an Activision game being held in that same regard feels nigh impossible, and yet after playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 I’m slightly more open to the idea…

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 pushes realism further than Activision has ever gone before

After playing 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare through Xbox Game Pass and seeing the first two Black Ops games re-released on PlayStation 5, I’m officially back in the trenches of Call of Duty.

The hype around the newest entry, Modern Warfare 4, was spot on. It really is one of the best single-player Call of Duty games we’ve ever received.

Yet it wasn’t the high-speed chases or nighttime operations that have stuck with me since finishing the campaign; it’s the opening 20 minutes.

Kicking off the campaign is a casual stroll through a Korean general store, and while the Call of Duty franchise has rarely looked bad, it looks downright photorealistic in Modern Warfare 4.

What was especially impressive was the hazy glow of the lights overhead, with those subtle fluorescent hues you’d often see in real life.

Activision

The products on the shelves also looked like they’d been plucked from reality and thrown into the game.

While my completed playthrough was done on the Xbox Series X, my first few hours of the game were played on the Nintendo Switch 2, and even then the visuals were impressive.

What I’m getting at is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 looks fantastic, and that’s a game where attention to detail really doesn’t matter. You’re in so many firefights you never really have time to soak up the world around you, and yet it’s a treat for the eyes all the same.

The Korean store has even been compared to GTA VI’s convenience store, with some arguing Activision actually beat Rockstar this time around. That’s up for debate, though.

If Activision Infinity Ward can make Modern Warfare 4 look that good, Activision Elsewhere’s mysterious RPG might be no laughing matter after all.

It’s bound to have an entirely new engine that’s built for open-world games, and with talent from studios like CD Projekt Red already onboard, it might be one to keep an eye on.

Now, when it does get unveiled and eventually released, I don’t think it’ll hold a candle to GTA VI, though it could give other AAAs a run for their money.

At the time of writing Activision Elsworld’s debut game is still shrouded in secrecy, but after being wholeheartedly surprised by Modern Warfare 4 I’m actually very excited to see what it's cooking.

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