Activision Blizzard released its quarterly financial report for Q2, which ended on June 30, earlier today. The report featured a plethora of sales numbers and data surrounding the games across Activision Blizzard, including Diablo Immortal, World of Warcraft, and Call of Duty. Activision revealed that the Q2 revenue ($1.2 billion total) was down compared to this time last year but grew compared to Q1. This is largely in part due to the low engagement of Vanguard, the current main series title. Amidst the financial reporting and excitement over the future of Call of Duty, the company also hinted at a possible new title arriving in 2023.
Earlier this year, the publisher revealed that the newest Call of Duty title, Modern Warfare II, would have a two-year life cycle. Traditionally, the franchise has a new game come out every year, with two or three studios taking on different projects. They also reported that Treyarch, the team behind the Black Ops series, would be working the next main series title; that title is due in 2024. Rumors point to the game’s setting being sometime in the 90s, perhaps after the events of Black Ops Cold War.
Due to this report, most thought there wouldn’t be a new Call of Duty for 2023. Modern Warfare II, and subsequently Warzone 2, would simply keep receiving free content to hold fans over until the next game. However, that may no longer be the case, according to Activision.
During the Q2 financial report, the company shared their hopes for the future of the COD franchise; “Across the Call of Duty ecosystem, the teams are well positioned to support these launches with substantial live operations while also continuing development of new premium content planned for 2023 and beyond.”
In the past, Activision has only referred to “premium content” when talking about a new game release. Free content for existing games is never referred to as premium. While this could be a simple misunderstanding, Activision could be alluding to something in the works for next year.
It’s unclear what this exactly could be; the most likely assumption would be a remastered title of some kind. Rumors about a remake of Modern Warfare 2 (2009)’s multiplayer have swirled for years — that could potentially fill 2023. However, at this time, everything is pure speculation.
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