Call Of Duty Will Skip 2023, According To New Report

For the first time in almost two decades, Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty franchise will take a year off, according to a new report from Bloomberg. 

The 2023 Call of Duty mainline game will not be released, an enormous shift in the franchise’s history that has been releasing new titles every year since 2005. Bloomberg’s report posits that Activision Blizzard, which is going to acquired by Microsoft, has pushed its 2023 release out of that year as result of Call of Duty: Vanguard, which was the 2021 release for the series. Vanguard did not meet expectations. Some executives at the publisher believe that Call of Duty: Vanguard is releasing too frequently for it to have as much impact as its predecessors. 

This decision is not related to Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Microsoft doesn’t have authority over publisher because this purchase isn’t expected to close before the end of next year. 

Following Activision Blizzard’s three-studio rotation for developing Call of Duty entries (Infinity Ward develops one and then the next year Treyarch develops a Call of Duty and then the year after that, Sledgehammer games develops a third before it’s back to Infinity Ward), this would-be 2023 game is being developed by Treyarch. While Treyarch’s Call of Duty is receiving at least another year of development, Bloomberg’s report says Activision Blizzard will have other projects to fill 2023’s release schedule. 

A new Call of Duty, a sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare developed by Infinity Ward, will still be released this year and that’s one pipeline of content Activision Blizzard will have going into 2023. The sequel to the battle royale free-to play Warzone will be available this year. Plus, Bloomberg says there will be a “new free-to-play online title next year,” as well and Treyarch will also be helping to develop this game. The report doesn’t specifiy if this will be a Call of Duty game, though. 

“We have an exciting slate of premium and free-to-play Call of Duty experiences for this year, next year, and beyond,” an Activision Blizzard spokesperson told BloombergIn an email “We look forward to sharing more details when the time is right.” 

Check out Call of Duty for more information Game Informer’s Call of Duty: Vanguard review. Then read on about Season 2 of Vanguard, Warzone Pacific and Warzone Pacific. Check out this story about Activision Blizzard’s quarterly results, which showcase a decline in Call of Duty engagement and sales, after that.  

[Source: Bloomberg]

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