Activision’s secret studio appears to be working on a new IP

One of Activision’s newest development teams, Elsewhere Entertainment, continues to hire staff and appears to be expanding into a new region, suggesting the team’s mysterious project is well underway.

Elsewhere is creating a “brand new franchise” that is a “narrative-based IP,” but no other details are available yet. But now Elsewhere is hiring for jobs in Malmö, Sweden, which is notable because the studio was previously only known for its presence in Warsaw, Poland.

Malmo is also home to Just Cause studio Avalanche and Star Wars Outlaws developer Massive. Hitman developer IO Interactive also has an office in the Swedish city.

Elsewhere is currently actively hiring for a variety of roles across a number of disciplines, though the job listings don’t reveal much. It appears to be early days for this new Activision game, and there’s no word yet on a release window or platforms, including whether it will be a console exclusive for Xbox, given Activision’s stance as a Microsoft-owned company.

As we previously reported, GameSpot has learned that Elsewhere’s first game will not be a new Call of Duty project and that the team has been quietly working on the game for some time.

Activision is investing in a non-sequel or franchise expansion, a big move considering the company has tripled its stake on Call of Duty in recent years. Elsewhere, the team includes people who worked on The Last of Us, Uncharted, The Witcher, Cyberpunk, Destiny, The Division and Far Cry.

Activision has expanded beyond established franchises before, but it hasn’t released new, original IP since 2019’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Before that, Activision published Bungie’s Destiny series, but Bungie took the franchise back and spun it off from Activision (and was later acquired by Sony).

Elsewhere is Activision’s second studio in Poland, joining the Infinity Ward team in Krakow. Assets from Activision’s US teams are working with Elsewhere.

As for the Call of Duty series, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is coming out in October. The second weekend of public beta testing just wrapped up, giving fans their first taste of the multiplayer shooter.