‘Meaningful, not incremental’: Call of Duty will no longer release back-to-back Black Ops or Modern Warfare games

The studios behind the Call of Duty games have pledged to change their release strategy going forward, acknowledging that not every player is happy with the current state of the series.

A message posted on the series’ official website and signed by “the Call of Duty team” addressed some players’ claims that the latest release, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, wasn’t up to the series’ previous standards.

“Call of Duty has enjoyed long-standing success because of all of you, a passionate community that demands excellence and deserves nothing less, the message read. “We also know that for some of you, the franchise has not met your expectations fully.

“To be very clear, we know what you expect and rest assured we will deliver, and overdeliver, on those expectations as we move forward.”

As part of this plan, the team has announced that it will be changing its strategy going forward, declaring: “We will no longer do back-to-back releases of Modern Warfare or Black Ops games. The reasons are many, but the main one is to ensure we provide an absolutely unique experience each and every year.

“We will drive innovation that is meaningful, not incremental. While we aren’t sharing those plans today, we look forward to doing so when the time is right.”

Seven out of the last eight main annual Call of Duty games have been either Black Ops or Modern Warfare titles, with the only exception being 2021’s Call of Duty: Vanguard.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was released last month and currently sits on a Metacritic score of 66 on console and 67 on PC. Only 2022’s Modern Warfare 3 has scored lower in the main series’ history.

Despite its plans to shake up the series structure, the Call of Duty team has told players it still wants them to give Black Ops 7 a chance by trying it out before dismissing it.

“With respect to Black Ops 7, we set our sights to deliver a spiritual successor to Black Ops 2 and the studios have poured their passion into making a great game that all of us are very proud of,” it wrote. “But it’s one thing for us to say it, more importantly it’s up to you to try it and judge for yourselves.”

“Next week, we are opening the doors for everyone to jump in and play Black Ops 7 Multiplayer and Zombies for a free trial along with a Double XP weekend. We would like you to experience the game first-hand and decide for yourselves.”

The message concludes with an assurance that “the future of Call of Duty is very strong and we believe our best days are ahead of us given the depth and talent of our development teams”.

Further reading

1

Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Review: Strong multiplayer saves a complete mess of a campaign

Treyarch delivers one of the worst single-player CoDs ever, eclipsed by masterful multiplayer

“We have been building the next era of Call of Duty, and it will deliver precisely on what you want along with some surprises that push the Franchise and the genre forward,” it says. “We look forward to welcoming you in, listening to you, and moving forward together. ”

According to data from GSD – which tracks digital and physical sales across Europe – Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s launch sales were down more than 60% in Europe compared to the series’ previous instalment. According to Ampere Analysis, over 25% of Call of Duty players in September picked up Battlefield 6 in October.

It should be noted, however, that because Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is included in the Xbox Game Pass subscription service, and Battlefield 6 isn’t, Black Ops 7’s player count is likely much higher than sales suggest.