Call of Duty 2023 Will Reportedly Only Release for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC
The 2023 entry in the annualized Call of Duty franchise is reportedly going to only release on current-generation platforms in PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC. Since the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X at the end of 2020, Activision has continued to release titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty: Vanguard for last-gen platforms in addition to current-gen. And while this trend sounds like it will continue again later this year with the rumored release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, this will reportedly be the last time that this happens.
According to Tom Henderson, who is a well-regarded insider when it comes to the Call of Duty series, Activision is only planning to support last-gen platforms for the franchise through 2022. This means that next year's Call of Duty installment, which currently isn't known about, will only arrive on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. Although Activision itself hasn't confirmed that this will be the case, the move makes quite a bit of sense for a number of reasons.
In the past, Activision has tended to only support last-gen platforms for Call of Duty for a span of about three years before eventually leaving those platforms behind. For instance, 2015's Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 was the last installment in the series to release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The following year with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Activision ended up moving to only release the game on PS4 and Xbox One. If Activision follows this same pattern, this year will be the last one where older consoles continue to see new Call of Duty games release.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Call of Duty franchise's future on last-gen hardware happens to involve a sequel to Call of Duty: Warzone. Earlier this week, we heard that Warzone 2 is currently something that Activision plans to also release at some point in 2023. Much like next year's mainline entry in the series, though, Warzone is said to only be coming to PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. Essentially, if you're someone who hasn't copped a current-gen platform for yourself yet, 2022 seems like the last year in which you'll be able to rely on your PS4 or Xbox One to continue playing this series moving forward.
How do you feel about Call of Duty finally moving to only support current-generation hardware within the coming year? Are you happy about this potential move? Let me know either down in the comments or you can message me on Twitter at @MooreMan12.