Image: Activision
For the first time since 2004, Activision reportedly won’t release a mainline Call of Duty game next year.
Activision has opted to delay 2023’s Call of Duty game to an unspecified date, according to a Bloomberg report. This will be the first time in two decades the Call of Duty franchise has skipped a mainline release, but the games publisher is looking to fill that vacuum with a new free-to-play game.
According to the report, Activision is reportedly delaying 2023’s Call of Duty game due to 2021’s Call of Duty: Vanguard not meeting internal sales expectations. The publisher was also apparently concerned that 2020’s Call of Duty game ended up cannibalising Vanguard's sales, and wants to avoid that from happening again.
The now-delayed Call of Duty game is reportedly part of the Black Ops series and is being developed by Treyarch, the studio behind Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Treyarch will also assist in developing an untitled free-to-play game that Activision plans to launch in 2023.
This year’s Call of Duty game will be a sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and a sequel to Call of Duty: Warzone is in the works as well. Additional content for both games will reportedly keep the franchise going in 2023. Infinity Ward will helm the Modern Warfare sequel, with Warzone 2’s content rumoured to tie in with the game heavily.
One might suspect Microsoft of having a hand in these decisions after its jaw-dropping US$68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, but that isn’t the case. Bloomberg’s report states that Activision made this decision entirely independent of Microsoft, though it notes that plans could change once the acquisition is complete in 2023. Once that ink dries, this delayed Call of Duty game will be the first in the franchise to launch under Xbox Game Studios.
