Is Activision finally going to stop with its yearly Call of Duty launch?
The trio of Sledgehammer Games, Infinity Ward, and Treyarch, along with several other support studios, have taken turns working on a new Call of Duty game every year for a long time. For the most part, it’s worked. It appeared that fans couldn’t stop themselves from throwing their money at Activision. At least, this was the case until 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare reboot by Infinity Ward. For 2020 and 2021, Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War and Call of Duty: Vanguard saw a noticeable decline in sales. While it is possible to blame the issues on the still-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the drop-off has reportedly been large enough to make Activision reconsider its annual release schedule.
— Ralph (@RalphsValve) November 19, 2021 According to the prominent leaker, @RalphsValve, Activision is “reportedly in discussion for extending Call of Duty’s annual releases.” Of course, this is not confirmed information. As with any similar intel, it’s best to take it with a grain of salt. But, what is interesting here is that the leak follows a series of complaints about Vanguard. Pre-release reviews of Vanguard were mixed with the community having no issue expressing its distaste for Vanguard’s Zombies mode. If the leak is true and Activision wants to stop releasing a new Call of Duty game every year, Infinity Ward’s next Call of Duty game, which is reportedly titled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II might not release until 2023. In other shooter news, Activision’s Call of Duty games isn’t the only ones struggling. Battlefield 2042 is also being labeled as a broken mess and the two longtime contemporaries are experiencing a huge decline in popularity and sales. On the other hand, 343 Industries has stepped up to the plate to give shooter fans something to sink their teeth into by releasing Halo Infinite’s multiplayer component early on November 15 ahead of its scheduled launch date of December 8.
