Call of Duty to trade annual releases for something potentially worse

techradar.com:

Activision Blizzard has confirmed that the Call of Duty franchise will no longer release year-on-year.

Instead, the publisher is shifting to an 'always-on' live service business model that seems to put a greater focus on multiplayer-based transactions like season passes, playable operators, and more.

Notable Call of Duty news Twitter account CharlieIntel shared a statement from an Activision Blizzard spokesperson, alongside an internal company email which detailed plans for the publisher to convert all US-based QA (quality assurance) testers into full-time employees, likely in support of the Call of Duty franchise's greater shift to a live service model.

NEW: Activision Blizzard announces all US based QA testers will be converted to full time employees, access to full benefits, and a hourly wages increase to minimum $20/hr. Statement from the company + internal email: pic.twitter.com/SWsD8aKfAWApril 7, 2022

What this decision entails is that future Call of Duty titles – and further iterations of Warzone – should have a much longer period of support.

The best-case scenario here would be that all development teams working on Call of Duty projects will have more time to polish their games and multiplayer modes, with the QA team overhaul able to provide a greater level of support and feedback.

But what about the worst case?

Terms like 'always on' and 'live service' have developed a stigma over the years, and rightfully so, but not just because live service games strictly require players to be connected to the internet at all times.

Live service games, by definition, are on life support from day one. They more often than not rely on a constant stream of revenue from the player base in the form of season pass purchases,