Report: Activision Debating Ditching Annual Call of Duty Releases
There has been a new every single year since 2005, a trend that started with. However, the series might be moving away from annualized releases, according to a new report.
Bloomberg reports that “high-level employees at Activision” have talked about ditching the yearly installments, but nothing has been finalized yet. There are multiple reasons for wanting to move in the direction.
Creating these games has led to “brutal overtime” as these teams try to put out a game under strict deadlines. Past titles have struggled behind the scenes and had to be reworked to hit their holiday dates. For example, reportedly shipped without a campaign because of technical problems and negative feedback, something Treyarch publicly contradicted. was allegedly a “mess” about a year and a half before its release as Sledgehammer Games was pulled from the project. Treyarch then led development on the title quickly after leading its last entry.
2021’s not only went on to sell less than, but its Zombies mode was also widely panned for being incomplete and even lacked a main quest. Treyarch had developed ‘s Zombie mode and when coupled with the troubles with and, it’s possible that the studio was being stretched too thin; a byproduct of ‘s annual release schedule.
This report also cites the belief among many of ‘s developers that time off between games would “please players and help bolster the franchise.” Spacing out releases might help stave off franchise fatigue, which is a constant fight for an annual series.
Bloomberg also states that this possible shift might not happen until 2023 or later. While this year’s has yet to be officially announced, a report from Video Games Chronicle claims that it will be .
A byproduct of loosening the
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