Activision Blizzard has reportedly delayed next year’s Call of Duty title, meaning 2023 will be the first year without a premium annual release in almost two decades.
People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg the project, developed by series regular Treyarch, has been delayed because some executives are concerned about over-saturating the market.
It’s been reported that a recent entry in the series failed to meet expectations, leading some inside Activision Blizzard to question whether the annual release cycle has resulted in the series cannibalising itself.
Treyarch’s unnamed Call of Duty project will now reportedly release in 2024, allowing Activision Blizzard to prioritize a new free-to-play title and additional content for Warzone and Modern Warfare in 2023.
In response to the rumors, an Activision Blizzard spokesperson told Bloomberg the company has “an exciting slate of premium and free-to-play Call of Duty experiences for this year, next year and beyond. Reports of anything otherwise are incorrect. We look forward to sharing more details when the time is right.”
The decision to delay was reportedly made without input from Microsoft, which recently agreed to purchase Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion deal.