World at War will have a two-year development cycle, double that of Treyarch's previous title, Call of Duty 3. The game will be powered by an enhanced version of Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare engine - improvements have been made to the physics engine and lighting model. Environments are now more destructible and can be set on fire with the flamethrower (which features propagating fire). Bullets can also cut holes in thin wood, making a gap big enough for the player to climb through.
A full-sized replica PBY Catalina was constructed for motion capture use.