Yearly Call of Duty Title Releases May No Longer Happen

If one thing in life has been certain, it is death, taxes, and a new Call of Duty hitting the shelves every year. Well, one of those may be changing, and unfortunately, it’s not the taxes.

A report states that some high-level Activision Blizzard employees are considering dropping Call of Duty’s annual release schedule, given the poor launch of Call of Duty Vanguard. The report comes from Bloomberg, the discussion is happening internally at Activision, and they are exploring the idea that fewer CoD releases will “please players and help bolster the franchise.”

Activision to Reconsider Yearly Release Schedule for Call of Duty — Call of Duty WWII

Call of Duty Vanguard was released in November 2021 to very poor reception compared to previous titles. The newest installment in the franchise saw a 40% decrease in sales compared to 2020’s Black Ops Cold War. While this sounds like a massive dip, keep in mind that Vanguard was still one of the highest-earning releases of 2021.

Bloomberg clarifies that any changes to the franchise’s release schedule would not come into play until 2023 or beyond, as Activision is hopeful that the next release will perform well. Nothing much is known about the next Call of Duty, but recent reports hint that it may be a sequel to Modern Warfare with a morality system, gore, and weapon malfunctions.

Word on Call of Duty has been buzzing ever since Microsoft announced their acquisition of Activision Blizzard earlier this week. The move means that many Activision titles will be coming to the Xbox Game Pass, and future titles may become Xbox exclusives.

READ: Microsoft Announces Acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $70 Billion

Speculations have been thrown around that Call of Duty may become an Xbox exclusive, but many experts feel this may not happen due to anti-trust laws and fear of monopolization. Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, has confirmed that Call of Duty will be available on PlayStation in the future, but it remains to be seen if they stick to their word.

About Call of Duty WWII: Vanguard

Call of Duty: Vanguard is an upcoming first-person shooter by Sledgehammer Games. The game will likely throw players into all the action in World War II, much like 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII. Currently, the game has no confirmed release date.