Call of Duty developers considering moving away from yearly releases, says report

techradar.com:

A new report has been published claiming that, in the wake of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, developers on Call of Duty are mulling over the possibility of slowing down their release cadence.

The report comes from Bloomberg, who spoke to many anonymous ‘high-level’ employees, reporting that a change in the release structure of Call of Duty is being considered. This is directly tied to the new acquisition and is one the developers on the franchise seem to be pushing for. 

It’s said that there is a desire for the franchise to move away from the current annual release model and embrace a slower cadence to allow the franchise to breathe more. It’s also mentioned, however, that no final decision has been made. 

The report claims that the yearly release structure has led to ‘brutal overtime’ at Treyarch and Infinity Ward. If made, this change would be for the health of the development team, but it's also believed that it would be welcomed by players.

This new structure is being considered not just because of Microsoft's acquisition, but also as a response to the lackluster performance of Call of Duty: Vanguard. Last year’s entry in the franchise was down 36% in the UK from Call of Duty: Black Ops — Cold War in 2020. The hope would be that giving the games more time to breathe would not only allow the developers more time to work on their games, but also customers more time to recharge between releases.

That being said, these are not moves that are likely to affect the franchise imminently. The report says that this change to the release schedule wouldn’t take effect until later next year or later. As such, the next installment in Call of Duty is still expected to launch later this year. 

The Call of Duty franchise