Call of Duty Will No Longer Do Back-to-back Releases of Modern Warfare or Black Ops Games

Call of Duty volition nary longer merchandise aggregate Black Ops oregon Modern Warfare games back-to-back, aft 2 Modern Warfare releases successful 2022 and 2023, and 2 Black Ops releases successful 2024 and 2025, respectively, and antagonistic feedback and concerning income reports for the astir caller release, Black Ops 7.

This quality was delivered from "the Call of Duty team" (encompassing studios Treyarch, Sledgehammer, Infinity Ward, and Raven Software) connected the authoritative website, successful a station that acknowledged the disapproval of Black Ops 7 arsenic good arsenic broader disapproval of the franchise successful caller years. As the station opens:

First off, convey you for each for the feedback we person received implicit the past fewer months. Call of Duty has enjoyed long-standing occurrence due to the fact that of each of you, a passionate assemblage that demands excellence and deserves thing less. We besides cognize that for immoderate of you, the Franchise has not met your expectations fully. To beryllium precise clear, we cognize what you expect and remainder assured we volition deliver, and overdeliver, connected those expectations arsenic we determination forward.

The station goes connected to authorities a fig of changes the Call of Duty studios volition beryllium making going forward. For starters, they're opening up Black Ops 7's multiplayer zombies mode for a escaped proceedings and Double XP play adjacent week, successful an effort to get those who person hesitated connected Black Ops 7 to "experience the crippled firsthand and determine for yourselves." They besides are committing to "unprecedented play support," saying that they "won't remainder until Black Ops 7 earns its spot arsenic 1 of the champion Black Ops games we’ve ever made."

Then, the squad had this to accidental astir aboriginal Call of Duty releases:

We volition nary longer bash back-to-back releases of Modern Warfare oregon Black Ops games. The reasons are many, but the main 1 is to guarantee we supply an perfectly unsocial acquisition each and each year.We volition thrust innovation that is meaningful, not incremental. While we aren’t sharing those plans today, we look guardant to doing truthful erstwhile the clip is right.

The enactment concludes by saying the squad believes Call of Duty's "best days are up of us" and that the adjacent epoch of Call of Duty volition "deliver precisely connected what you privation on with immoderate surprises that propulsion the Franchise and the genre forward."

These changes travel amidst, and apt successful effect to, a unsmooth mates of years for the Call of Duty franchise. The astir caller entry, Black Ops 7, debuted past period to middling reviews, including our ain 6/10 run review, 6/10 Zombies review, and importantly amended 8/10 multiplayer review. This is besides successful the discourse of some Black Ops 7 and Modern Warfare 3 receiving mediocre reviews successful examination to their contiguous bid predecessors the twelvemonth before, with Black Ops 6 and Modern Warfare 2 being received mostly favorably. This apt accounts, astatine slightest successful part, for the determination to halt the back-to-back releases.

For Black Ops 7, that lukewarm reception has besides been reflected successful the game's income numbers, particularly successful narration to different caller large multiplayer shooter release, Battlefield 6. The crippled had a "terrible" motorboat successful Europe, down 63% versus Battlefield 6 and down by much than 50% versus past year's Black Ops 6 successful the equivalent periods.

It is worthy noting that we don't person afloat visibility into Black Ops 7's income data, arsenic it launched time 1 connected Game Pass, and a fig of radical apt played the crippled done the subscription work and didn't number arsenic portion sales.

But nonetheless, the announcement contiguous feels similar an admittance that thing has gone incorrect here. Whether oregon not the Call of Duty squad tin hole it volition instrumentality a fewer years to genuinely comprehend.

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].