Update: An Activision spokesperson provided the following comment:
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“We have an exciting slate of premium and free-to-play Call of Duty experiences for this year, next year and beyond. Reports of anything otherwise are incorrect. We look forward to sharing more details when the time is right.”
Original: A new report has emerged today stating that the 2023 installment in the Call of Duty franchise is set to be delayed by Activision. For over a decade at this point, Activision has continued to release a new Call of Duty title each fall. And while this trend has been incredibly successful for the video game publishing giant, the 2023 entry in the series now seems to be getting pushed to 2024, making this the first year since 2004 in which a new Call of Duty game won’t arrive.
Coming by way of Bloomberg, it was reported that the Call of Duty series will miss a year for the first time in roughly 20 years in 2023. Although this is a drastic move for Activision as a whole, it was made clear that plenty of new Call of Duty content will still arrive within 2023. Specifically, the publisher plans to continuing supporting Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (which will launch this fall) in addition to Call of Duty: Warzone 2, which is also said to be in the works.
So why is Activision now looking to delay the 2023 Call of Duty game? Well, the fact that the company is poised to be acquired by Microsoft next year surely plays a large role in this. Announced at the start of this year, Microsoft confirmed that it will be acquiring Activision for roughly $70 billion in 2023, which will lead to the publishing giant joining Xbox Game Studios. With Activision no longer needed to operate as an independent entity next fall (and therefore not solely relying on the income from Call of Duty to keep the company afloat), it seems that those in charge have opted to push back the next game in the series to give it more time in the oven.
As for this year’s Call of Duty installment, Infinity Ward has already confirmed that it’s working on a sequel to the 2019 release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Although specifics surrounding this game have yet to be unveiled, a proper announcement of the game should take place in the coming months. As for Warzone 2, there’s still very little that we know about the scope of the next iteration of the battle royale shooter, but again, more details should emerge throughout 2022.
What do you think about the Call of Duty series finally skipping a year within 2023? Do you think this is a good move overall? Let me know either down in the comments or message me on Twitter at @MooreMan12.
