[Update – February 23 @ 3:45 PM ET]: An Activision spokesperson has provided us a statement on the following story: “We have an exciting slate of premium and free-to-play Call of Duty experiences for this year, next year and beyond. Reports of anything otherwise are incorrect. We look forward to sharing more details when the time is right.”
The original story, published on February 22, is as follows.
For the first time in nearly two decades, a Call of Duty game may skip a year. The annual tradition of shoehorning Captain Price in a game is set to end, according to a report by Bloomberg. Activision Blizzard will supposedly delay the Call of Duty game scheduled for 2023, as candid concerns regarding quality and oversaturation may have entered talking points.
The news comes shortly after the publisher officially announced Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Earlier this month, Activision confirmed the rumors in a community update. Modern Warfare 2, led by series veterans Infinity Ward, will have an all-new engine, and is being developed along with a new Warzone “from the ground-up.”
However, Bloomberg’s report says that “a recent entry” (likely Vanguard) didn’t meet Activision’s expectations. Concerned that the company has been “introducing new versions too rapidly,” Activision has supposedly delayed Call of Duty game to follow MW 2 out of 2023. Bloomberg does report that the decision wasn’t connected to its recent acquisition to Microsoft.
Every year, without fail
The AAA games industry is infamous for oversaturating the market with yearly sequels. Ubisoft once had a serious moment of introspection regarding its Assassin’s Creed series. And that’s why we didn’t get a mainline AC release in 2016. Call of Duty has been much the same. We’ve had a CoD game launch every year since 2005’s Call of Duty 2. That’s more than 15 games, juggled among developers Treyarch, Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games, and Raven Software.
The delay, if real, is likely due to Activision wanting more time to polish the game. And, hopefully, give the franchise a breather for a year. Along with the live service battle royale, Warzone, we’ve had a lot of Call of Duty as of late. Regardless, we’ll have more once Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and the next Warzone arrives. Both projects are under development by the folks at Infinity Ward.
