Med Call of Duty: WWII sigter udvikleren Sledgehammer Games efter at bringe spændingen tilbage i serien, og det betyder også en hårdtslående kampagne. Det lader til at udvikleren ønsker at respektere spillerens styring, og de ønsker derfor at fortælle så meget af historien in-game, altså uden mellemscener, som muligt.
For nylig fortalte studiets Senior Creative Director, Bret Robins, i et interview med Glixel, at et såkaldt "in-game narrative" er afgørende:
"In anything like this, you need time to breathe. We're being strategic with our breathing points, though. We have excitement, stealth, and then we take a breath, but we tell more story in the game, rather than cut scenes. That way we can really bring out the personality throughout the whole story."
Derudover afslører Robbins, at han har trukket inspiration fra spil som Firewatch, Virginia og Gone Home:
"Firewatch is one of my favorite games. Gone Home was great. Games are growing up and the audience is sophisticated. More and more, they expect a good story. Not just from blockbusters but from indies [as well], and the whole genre is being pushed forward. Virginia is another good example. I definitely looked to them for inspiration and for techniques. We're not shy about taking our time with the story. We want something meaningful and a bit deeper. You need that kind of quiet to balance the crazy. You need both or one will go flat without the other. We've learned from those other games and tried to infuse that into ours."