Despite a contrary report from Bloomberg in February that Activision will be skipping its annual mainline release in 2023, the company has now revealed in its third-quarter earnings that it is planning for “the next premium release in the blockbuster annual series, and even more engaging free-to-play experiences across platforms” in 2023.
In February, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier noted that Call of Duty: Vanguard failed to meet sales expectations and executives at the company felt they were releasing new entries too soon. In October, Schreier tried to clarify again by saying Activision would be “selling new stuff” for Modern Warfare 2, this year’s already released title, and it will be “an expansion or something like that”, but it will have “campaign stuff too.”
Despite Activision’s statement in its third-quarter earnings, Schreier remains confident he is right, saying it’s a “PR language.” Schreier reiterates next year’s release will be a continuation of Modern Warfare 2 and that Activision is calling it a full premium release “because they’re probably going to market and sell it as a $70 game with new single and multiplayer content.” He also indicated that 2024’s title will be developed by Treyarch.
This year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was released on October 28th, and it has been declared the most successful Call of Duty title ever, being the fastest to hit $1 billion. Activision is gearing up for the release of its free-to-play battle royale Warzone 2.0 on November 16th and an upcoming mobile Warzone coming in 2023.
