Dataminers have unearthed evidence indicating that Call of Duty: World at War's multiplayer was once intended to feature a more robust vehicle combat system. While the final game included tanks on a limited number of maps, it appears Treyarch had more ambitious plans for vehicular integration.
According to findings from ForwardLeaks and @TheSpoopatron on X, players would have been able to call in tanks after achieving a seven-kill streak. These tanks were envisioned with a degree of customization, allowing for the attachment of perks and different weaponry, potentially including flamethrowers, and offering enhanced control over their speed. This expanded focus on vehicles would have necessitated more maps specifically designed to accommodate them.
However, these features were ultimately cut or significantly scaled back before the game's release. The exact reasons for this reduction are unclear, but speculation points to potential issues with gameplay execution or a rushed development cycle. Call of Duty: World at War reportedly underwent substantial revisions during its development, which could have contributed to the removal of these more elaborate vehicle mechanics and associated map designs.
The inclusion of tanks in Call of Duty 3 and World at War marked an early exploration of vehicles within the series' multiplayer. In World at War, their implementation felt somewhat secondary, appearing on only four maps. The discovered datamined content suggests a missed opportunity to explore a different direction for Call of Duty's PvP multiplayer in its formative years.
This revelation invites consideration of how Call of Duty's multiplayer landscape might have evolved differently had these features been implemented. While recent titles like the Modern Warfare series have incorporated vehicles in modes like Ground War, seemingly in response to larger-scale multiplayer offerings, they have yet to overshadow the core 6v6 experiences. Separately, dataminers also found evidence of a cut tower defense mode for Zombies in recent Black Ops ports.