Things are not looking good for Call of Duty. The franchise lost over 50 million players since last year, a record player count loss for the series. Call of Duty’s active player base has hit a three-year low in player engagement, falling below 100 million active players for the first time since 2019.
The latest Activision financial report revealed that the Call of Duty operating income declined year-over-year, “reflecting lower engagement for the Call of Duty franchise.” The company reinsures its shareholder by stating that the “gameplay improvements and seasonal content across Call of Duty: Vanguard and Call of Duty: Warzone were well-received by players,” leading to increased net bookings on console and PC.
New Call of Duty games are in the works
If Call of Duty fell under that important 100 million active players threshold, Activision plans on reviving the series in the upcoming months. According to the company, “the fourth quarter will usher in a new era for the Call of Duty franchise.” Activision plans to release Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II on October 28, 2022. The publisher has high expectations for this sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare, the most successful Call of Duty title to date.
Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 is also on the horizon, with a release date scheduled “later this year.” This new version of Call of Duty’s battle royale should improve on the previous one with a brand new engine and “groundbreaking innovations.” The company mentioned that “Activision’s expanded studios also continue to make strong progress on an innovative mobile experience that will extend Warzone to the largest and fastest growing platform.” This confirms that Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 will be coming to mobiles in addition to consoles and PC.
On top of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, Activision mentions “new premium content planned for 2023 and beyond.” If Call of Duty Vanguard and Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War didn’t reach the success of some of the previous entries in the series, Activision keeps on developing new titles for its FPS franchise in hopes to revive the hype.
