Call of Duty will not launch a number of Black Ops or Modern Warfare video games back-to-back, after two Modern Warfare releases in 2022 and 2023, and two Black Ops releases in 2024 and 2025, respectively, and detrimental suggestions and regarding gross sales reviews for the latest launch, Black Ops 7.
This information was delivered from “the Call of Duty team” (encompassing studios Treyarch, Sledgehammer, Infinity Ward, and Raven Software program) on the official web site, in a publish that acknowledged the criticism of Black Ops 7 in addition to broader criticism of the franchise in recent times. Because the publish opens:
First off, thanks for all for the suggestions we’ve got obtained over the previous few months. Call of Duty has loved long-standing success as a result of of all of you, a passionate neighborhood that calls for excellence and deserves nothing much less. We additionally know that for some of you, the Franchise has not met your expectations absolutely. To be very clear, we all know what you anticipate and relaxation assured we’ll ship, and overdeliver, on these expectations as we transfer ahead.
The publish goes on to state a quantity of modifications the Call of Duty studios will likely be making going ahead. For starters, they’re opening up Black Ops 7’s multiplayer zombies mode for a free trial and Double XP weekend subsequent week, in an effort to get those that have hesitated on Black Ops 7 to “expertise the sport firsthand and resolve for yourselves.” In addition they are committing to “unprecedented season help,” saying that they “will not relaxation till Black Ops 7 earns its place as one of the very best Black Ops video games we’ve ever made.”
Then, the workforce had this to say about future Call of Duty releases:
We’ll not do back-to-back releases of Modern Warfare or Black Ops video games. The explanations are many, however the principle one is to make sure we offer a completely distinctive expertise every yr.
We’ll drive innovation that’s significant, not incremental. Whereas we aren’t sharing these plans immediately, we look ahead to doing so when the time is true.
The observe concludes by saying the workforce believes Call of Duty’s “finest days are forward of us” and that the subsequent period of Call of Duty will “ship exactly on what you need together with some surprises that push the Franchise and the style ahead.”
These modifications come amidst, and certain in response to, a tough couple of years for the Call of Duty franchise. The latest entry, Black Ops 7, debuted final month to middling critiques, together with our personal 6/10 marketing campaign overview, 6/10 Zombies overview, and considerably higher 8/10 multiplayer overview. That is additionally within the context of each Black Ops 7 and Modern Warfare 3 receiving poor critiques compared to their rapid sequence predecessors the yr earlier than, with Black Ops 6 and Modern Warfare 2 being obtained usually favorably. This seemingly accounts, not less than partially, for the choice to cease the back-to-back releases.
For Black Ops 7, that lukewarm reception has additionally been mirrored within the sport’s gross sales numbers, particularly in relation to a different current main multiplayer shooter launch, Battlefield 6. The sport had a “horrible” launch in Europe, down 63% versus Battlefield 6 and down by greater than 50% versus final yr’s Black Ops 6 within the equal intervals.
It’s value noting that we do not have full visibility into Black Ops 7’s gross sales information, because it launched day one on Recreation Go, and a quantity of folks seemingly performed the sport via the subscription service and did not rely as unit gross sales.
However nonetheless, the announcement immediately appears like an admission that one thing has gone flawed right here. Whether or not or not the Call of Duty workforce can repair it is going to take just a few years to really comprehend.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Obtained a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.