Only recently Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard in an incredible deal. With the takeover of the publisher, all studios and game franchises will of course also be taken over. In addition to Diablo, Starcraft, World of Warfcraft and Overwatch, Microsoft also gets Call of Duty. The popular shooter is one of the best-selling games ever and enjoys a huge community on both consoles and PC. However, the franchise also has to take a lot of criticism with almost every new release.
In addition to the numerous bugs and partly unfinished releases, fans also criticize the lack of imagination. Activision is accused of only wanting to tap money without paying attention to the needs of the players. If you consider that a new Call of Duty title has been released every year and the development times are correspondingly short, it’s no wonder.
>> Phil Spencer confirms: Call of Duty stays on PlayStation <
Call of Duty doesn’t come out every year anymore
According to the well-known journalist Jason Schreier, Activision should consider discontinuing the annual releases at the highest level.
Inside Activision Blizzard this week:
– Lots of cautious optimism about the merger and Kotick being gone
– Excitement for more creative freedom under Xbox
– Fear of layoffs
– Call of Duty could ditch the yearly release schedule
New story: https://t.co/QftblHXUzz— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 20, 2022
Of course, none of this is official yet, and no one at Activision has commented on it yet. Schreier is generally considered to be very well informed and trustworthy. In his statement about CoD, he relies on two anonymous sources who are informed about the discussions at management level. But Schreier also mentions that even if the change should happen, we still have to be patient for at least a year or more, after all, the next CoD is expected this fall.
>> Level up weapons quickly in Vanguard <
What does that mean?
Switching to a two-year release would make sense, though, and not just from the player’s point of view. Activision currently employs three major development studios responsible for the annual CoDs: Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer Games. The studios alternate accordingly with the releases. While the Call of Duty franchise continues to be incredibly successful, fan criticism is slowly growing louder. And that is also reflected in the sales figures: The current CoD: Vanguard has sold significantly worse than Black Ops Cold War the year before.
Many players don’t find it okay that the individual titles no longer get proper support after a year because the next title is to be advertised and sold. Switching to a slower release cycle would give studios more time to develop and could help the franchise in the long run as well. Many fans would be happy if there were fewer bugs and crashes at the time of release, sufficient content and support for a title for several years. You could also help the Call of Duty League and create a more interesting esports scene for CoD that doesn’t just consist of one season per game.
So all in all, more spacing between games would be beneficial not only for the fans but also for the franchise. Warzone shows that you can still make a lot of money with CoD. The game is completely free and rakes in record amounts every year just from the sale of in-game cosmetic items. On top of that, with Microsoft you now have a decent financial power behind you, which allows you to experiment.
Would you like more breaks between Call of Duty releases or do you really want to play a new CoD every year?