Activision Blizzard Inc. will reportedly delay their planned “Call of Duty” game for 2023 – marking the first time the franchise will be without an annual release in nearly two decades.
Bloomberg broke the news saying that after last year’s “Call of Duty: Vanguard” failed to meet sales expectations, some executives reportedly believe they are introducing new versions too rapidly. Activision will work on other projects to fill the gap next year.
Treyarch, which had been working on the now-delayed game, will now help with a free-to-play online COD title that will be released in 2023. In addition, this Fall’s big new entry in the ‘Modern Warfare’ sub-franchise will receive a steady stream of additional content throughout 2023.
Such a shift isn’t unheard of. Ubisoft famously switched from an annual to a biennial release strategy for its “Assassin’s Creed” games starting with “Assassin’s Creed Origins” and the move paid off with that series having something of a creative and sales renaissance in the years since.
Still, it will have an impact. “Call of Duty” games regularly top yearly sales charts and have sold more than 400 million units since the series began in 2003. The decision was reportedly not related to Activision’s agreement to sell itself to Microsoft Corp. for $69 billion with that deal expected to be finalized by the summer of 2023 pending approval from regulators.
Source: Bloomberg
