There’ve been a whole lot of rumors about Activision’s Call of Duty plans ever since Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of the company for nearly $70 billion sent shockwaves across the industry. Now, another report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier seems to suggest that the company will skip out on the annual release of the highly-popular first-person shooter franchise in 2023 to dedicate more development time for the next entries.
It’s no secret that last year’s Call of Duty: Vanguard failed to meet sales expectations despite topping charts in numerous countries. Activision plans to reconcile that defeat by releasing the much-anticipated Modern Warfare 2 installment in 2022. And yet, it seems the company isn’t too confident about the prospects of the next COD in their lineup.
Apparently, top executives at the company have reached an interesting consensus that might turn 2023 into the only year in nearly two decades to go without the release of a major Call of Duty title. In their opinion, the annual release schedule might be oversaturating the market, which is one of the reasons Vanguard failed to generate enough hype and audience participation.
Since Schreier has almost never been wrong with his reports, there’s a good chance that 2023 will go by without a Call of Duty sequel, though the release of downloadable content for Call of Duty: Warzone 2, which is currently slated for a late 2022 release, is a guarantee.
The success of Modern Warfare 2 and the extent to which it can reinvigorate fan interest is probably another contributing factor in this decision, so we’ll have to wait and see how Infinity Ward’s sequel performs through this Holiday Season and beyond.