Call of Duty is one of the biggest game series in history. The COD first-person shooter games have enthralled players since 2003. Activision has traditionally stuck to an annual release cycle for its Call of Duty games. However, a recent announcement confirmed that Activision will stop releasing COD games annually.
Activision confirmed on the COD website that it will change its Call of Duty release strategy. A passage from that announcement page states: “Our strategy going forward is changing. We will no longer do back-to-back releases of [COD] Modern Warfare or Black Ops games.”
Activision did not provide much explanation for why it is changing its annual release strategy for Call of Duty games. The only explanation Activision gave is that it wants to ensure every new COD game provides a unique experience. Activision no doubt feels it can make new Call of Duty games more unique with fewer, less regular additions to its flagship COD series.
The main reason Activision is changing its release strategy is most likely because Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has not been much of a hit in comparison to its Black Ops 6 predecessor. General player reviews for the game have been very negative, with a 1.6 user score for Black Ops 7 on Metacritic. Media reviews have been slightly more positive, but Black Ops 6 still has a rather underwhelming 67 Metacritic rating. The overall Black Ops 7 sales have been significantly lower than Black Ops 6.
So, it seems a Call of Duty franchise fatigue factor has started to set in. Players have slated the AI sloppiness, lazy design, substandard graphics, and weak campaign in Black Ops 7. Consequently, Activision is breaking from its annual release cycle for the sake of quality assurance. Less regular releases of Call of Duty games will reduce development time pressure, enabling Activision to design better and more unique Call of Duty titles in the future.
However, Activision has not necessarily given up on Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Activision reaffirmed in its announcement that it remains committed to seasonal support for Black Ops 7. The announcement page also says, “We won’t rest until Black Ops 7 earns its place as one of the best Black Ops games we’ve ever made.” Yet, there is only so much Activision can do to enhance Black Ops 7 with seasonal updates.
Activision also announced a free trial for the Black Ops 7 Multiplayer and Zombies game modes this week, during which there will also be a double XP weekend. This week’s free trial covers the date period December 15 to 21. So, that free trial is expected to start on December 15 or 16 at the latest.
What is clear is that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has not had a good launch. It might be hard for Activision to save a COD game with such low player ratings. The new release strategy might be good news for the COD series generally, with fewer but better Call of Duty game releases in the future.
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