Call of Duty titles could no longer be released annually to reignite “franchises’ fortunes” cover image

Call of Duty titles could no longer be released annually to reignite “franchises’ fortunes”

Bloomberg reports that “high-level Activision employees” are looking to move away from Call of Duty’s annual release schedule in an attempt to reignite the “franchise’s fortunes.”

Activision are reportedly preparing to end their annual release strategy for Call of Duty games. They will be looking at trying to release them every two to three years from now on. Here is what we know so far.

Yearly COD games A thing of the past?

In the wake of the excitement of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, there are now reports that the studio are opting to move away from releasing new Call of Duty games on an annual basis. This news comes to us courtesy of a report from Bloomberg.

In the Bloomberg report they claim that "high-level employees" within Activision met to discuss the possibility of switching to a two to three year release schedule for future games. This comes as a result of the dismal state of the latest title in the franchise, Call of Duty: Vanguard. A game which, according to the Bloomberg report, has seen a massive decline in sales figures compared to previous titles.

These changes in proceedings will not go into affect until after the release of CoD 2022; which is expected to "redeem the franchise's fortunes."


History of Call of Duty releases in the last decade

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012)
  • Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013)
  • Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014)
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015)
  • Call of Duty: WWII (2017)
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops IV (2018)
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020)
  • Call of Duty: Vanguard (2021)

So while nothing has been finalized this has been seen as welcomed move from the CoD community. Many believe that with this change in scheduling that this will give the CoD developers more time to make a more polished game. This in turn will make it more enjoyable for casual and competitive players, as well as making life easier for the Activision employees working on the game.

All in all it would seem that this could be the much needed step Activision needs in order to restore the popular FPS franchise to its' former glory.