Activision has made a significant decision for its popular FPS series Call of Duty that will resonate with the gaming world. The company has officially announced that it will no longer release Modern Warfare or Black Ops games back-to-back. This strategic shift is driven by the desire to offer players a completely different and new experience each year, avoiding repetition.
Good news for Call of Duty players from Activision: A unique experience every year is the goal.
The current strategy has failed to deliver the expected results, especially with recent developments. It seems that Black Ops 7’s difficulty in finding its audience was one of the reasons pushing the company towards this radical change. Although the game topped the PSN charts in November, the number of concurrent players on the Steam platform remained around 100,000 shortly after launch, failing to receive the expected support.
Industry analysts suggest that Xbox made a mistake at a critical moment, while loyal fans of the series also have complaints about certain aspects. Players are expressing their fatigue with the series and their dissatisfaction with the AI-powered entities used in the game. While Activision hasn’t directly disclosed sales figures, this change in publishing strategy may indicate that the game hasn’t met some expectations.
In its latest blog post, Activision emphasized that the development team carefully listens to player feedback. The company states that delivering a “truly unique” experience each year is a priority for them. The fact that Black Ops 7 has the lowest user score in Call of Duty history on the review site Metacritic is the most concrete evidence of player dissatisfaction.
Looking back at previous years, the sequential release of different themed games such as World War 2 in 2017, Black Ops 4 in 2018, and Modern Warfare in 2019 prevented the community from feeling fatigued. However, the consecutive release of Modern Warfare games in 2022 and 2023 disrupted this balance. Returning to the old model could benefit both the company and the players, allowing those who dislike a particular sub-series to take a year off and return the following year with a different experience.
While future plans may change, this doesn’t mean Black Ops 7 has been abandoned. The developers state they will continue to provide unprecedented support for the game. For those who haven’t yet tried the game, a free access period will begin the week of December 19th. During this period, players will be able to experience the multiplayer and zombie modes, and also take advantage of the Double XP weekend event. So, what do you think of Activision’s decision? Does having a different theme each year in the series improve the enjoyment of the game?
