Activision has revealed that it will no longer be releasing Call of Duty‘s Modern Warfare or Black Ops titles back-to-back, as the company will strive to give players a completely new experience to enjoy every year. Call of Duty has been releasing a new title every year for quite some time, but it seems as if the current strategy of launching titles within the same subseries back-to-back has not worked out for Activision, leading to some significant changes in the way the company plans its major releases.
While there’s no way of knowing exactly what goes into making such decisions, it seems as if Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has struggled to find its audience. While it was revealed that the title topped the PSN charts in November, it has struggled to find the same level of support on Steam, with its concurrent player count peaking at around 100,000 players shortly after launch. Analysts like The Game Business’ Chris Dring have claimed that Xbox “dropped the ball” at a crucial moment. Many fans have also expressed some burnout with the franchise and complained about the use of AI-generated assets within the title. While Activision has not spoken directly about Black Ops 7‘s sales, its decision to change the way it releases the franchise’s entries may indicate that the game isn’t meeting certain expectations.
Call of Duty Didn’t Lose Its Identity With Black Ops 7—It Lost It 12 Years Ago
While Black Ops 7 has been criticized for lacking the Call of Duty identity, the series’ vibe actually shifted over a decade ago.
Activision Is Taking a New Approach With Call of Duty
In a recent blog post, Activision released a statement letting the Call of Duty community know that the developers have been listening to player feedback, which will result in some major changes moving forward. The biggest change is that Activision stated it “will no longer do back-to-back releases of Modern Warfare or Black Ops games.” While the statement claimed that there are many reasons behind the change, Activision stressed the importance of wanting to provide players with an “absolutely unique” experience every year. It’s clear that many players are unhappy with the current Black Ops 7 experience, as the title currently has the lowest user score in Call of Duty‘s history on the review aggregator site Metacritic.
With a new entry coming out every year, it makes sense that not every Call of Duty title can be a breakout success, as it’s hard to hit such a high benchmark every 12 months. The release of Black Ops 7 also isn’t the first time Activision has launched two games within the same subseries back to back, as Call of Duty players may remember that the second and third Modern Warfare titles were released in 2022 and 2023. Prior to that, Activision regularly switched which Call of Duty experience players would be able to play each year. For instance, Call of Duty: World War 2 was released in 2017, followed by Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 in 2018, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in 2019. Each of these titles delivered a distinctly different experience, which may have helped the community avoid some of the fatigue that can come with yearly releases. It also means that players who didn’t care about a particular series could also skip a year while knowing that the following year will likely offer something different. Returning to this model could prove to be beneficial for both Activision and its players.
It’s important to note that keeping an eye toward the future does not mean that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7‘s fate is sealed, as the developers have expressed that they will be providing an unprecedented level of support for the live-service title. For players who haven’t had a chance to try Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 for themselves, Activision has revealed that next week (the week of December 19), gamers will be able to experience the ‘s multiplayer and zombie modes for free. Activision will also be launching a Double XP weekend alongside the free trial, which should be beneficial for any players looking to stack up some quick XP in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Despite some bumps in the road here and there, many fans are feeling optimistic about the future of the Call of Duty franchise.
