Activision has released the latest trailer for next month’s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare today, this time going the route of live-action. Continuing the trend of past promotional commercials, this latest one features a few famous faces from the worlds of cinema and sport.
Multiple gold medal-winning Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps stars alongside actor Danny McBride in the video, joining the likes of Robert Downey Jr. and Megan Fox, who appeared in similar trailers for Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Call of Duty: Ghosts respectively.
McBride seems like an obvious fit for the broadcast, but the inclusion of Phelps, who isn’t an actor, seems a little strange. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly (via Collider) in regards to how he got the part, Phelps says that his agent was contacted shortly after the conclusion of the Rio Olympics.
My agent had mentioned it to me and I think it was a pretty quick, ‘Yes, I would love to and it would be an honor.’” I don’t know if that’s a huge boost to the makers of the Call of Duty games or a big of a burn on the honor of being one of the greatest swimmers of all time. Then again, if I had won 28 gold medals, something fresh and new like being in a video game trailer might be a nice change of pace.
You’d think an Olympic athlete would have little time to dabble in the gratuitous nature of video games, but Phelps says he’s actually a big fan of the series, and plays it while travelling between competitions to relax.
I do love the game and I have spent a bunch of hours playing it, especially during training camps and whenever we travel. So, there’s definitely a good, little friendly competition between the teammates and it definitely takes our mind off competing when we’re traveling and it helps us relax a lot.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare launches November 4 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. Those playing on Sony’s console can look forward to enjoying the shooter’s add-on map packs before anyone else.