Ever sinceCall of Duty 2launched in 2005, theCall of Dutyfranchise has been operating on an annual release schedule for its main series games.Call of Duty 3followedCall of Duty 2in 2006, thenCall of Duty 4dropped in 2007 and so on and so forth. This aggressive annual release schedule has worked for the most part, with the majority of main seriesCall of Dutygames earning rave reviews and selling millions of copies.
However, it may be time to retire theCall of Dutyannual release schedule. We’re in a day and age when video games simply have longer shelf lives than they did in the past, and players may be more interested in the game they’re currently playing getting more content than jumping to a brand new experience entirely. There were still fans asking for aCall of Duty: Modern Warfareseason 7long after the release of its successor,Black Ops Cold War, for example.
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Here is why it may be time for theCall of Dutyfranchise to leave its annual release schedule behind in favor of supporting its games for a longer period of time.
Call of Duty Sales Are Down
Call of Duty: Modern Warfareis one of the best-selling games of all time, andBlack Ops Cold Warsales were impressive as well. However, early reports indicate thatCall of Duty: Vanguardsales are slow out of the gate, with the franchise’s lowest launch sales in the UK since 2007. This could be a huge sign thatCall of Dutyfans are finally getting franchise fatigue, though one has to imagine things will bounce back with the likely launch ofModern Warfare 2in 2022.
But just because theCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2sales will likely be high, that doesn’t mean that franchise fatigue hasn’t set in for theCall of Dutygames developed by studios other than Infinity Ward. It’s possible that the 2023 and 2024Call of Dutygame sales will be less than expected, if theearlyVanguardsalesare any indication.
Demand for Call of Duty Remasters
Considering the sheer amount of money that theCall of Dutyfranchise makes, even when the sales are down year over year, it wouldn’t make sense for Activision to stop the annual release schedule entirely. While it may want to consider ending theCall of Dutyannual release schedule for brand new releases, perhaps Activision could fill the void by releasingCall of Dutyremastersin the gap years when a new release isn’t available.
There’s obvious demand forCall of Dutyremasters, as many fans would love the opportunity to return to their favorite games in the series. In fact, there is aplan forCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2fans to return to the gamefor one last hoorah. But what if fans didn’t have to organize these kinds of comebacks and could instead play remastered versions of the classicCall of Dutyvideo games on modern consoles?
Activision has remasteredCall of Dutygames already, releasing a remastered version ofCall of Duty 4as well as remastering the campaign forCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. However, these remasters came with some notable caveats. In the case of theCall of Duty 4remaster, there once was a time when the only way to get it was by purchasingCall of Duty: Infinite Warfare, severely limiting its potential audience. And in the case ofModern Warfare 2, fans were only treated to a remaster of the campaign, with the multiplayer and Spec Ops co-op mode nowhere in sight.
Not to mention these games came out the same year, or even the same day in the case of theCall of Duty 4remaster, as brand new, main seriesCoDgames. This meant that the community attention was split significantly, as many likely gravitated to the new releases instead. But if there wasn’t a new main seriesCall of Dutygame released in any given year, then it seems like theCall of Dutyremasters would get a lot more attention.
Activision has years of classicCall of Dutygames to draw from when it comes to potential remasters to release in the proposed gap years. It could start with the World War 2Call of Duty 2andCall of Duty 3games, or maybe jump right to offering aremastered version ofModern Warfare 2’s multiplayer. Another popular pick would be the originalCall of Duty: Black Opsor its sequel,Black Ops 2. Activision could go a lot of different ways withCall of Dutyremasters, and one has to imagine that the nostalgia combined with the high quality of the games would result in big sales.
Call of Duty: Warzone Ensures Consistent Revenue
The existence and persistent popularity of theCall of Duty: Warzonebattle royale means that there’s less need for Activision to pump out a newCall of Dutygame every year.Activision made over $1 billion from microtransactionsin a single quarter, and one has to imagine that a sizable portion of that money came directly fromWarzone.
Call of Duty: Warzoneis about to get a shot in the arm thanks to the introduction of thenew Pacific map Caldera, which, if it’s entertaining enough, could not only bring in new players but lapsed players as well. As long asCall of Duty: Warzoneremains one of the world’s most popular games, it will continue to rake in big bucks for Activision, and so maybe more resources could be spent on it instead of a brand new game.
