The "Call Of Duty" franchise is finally taking a break after years of annual releases.
IGN reports that the next "Call Of Duty" game, which was originally scheduled for next year, has been delayed to 2024. This marks the first time ever that a franchise notorious for keeping up with a yearly release schedule is going into a one-year hiatus before launching a new mainline title.
The original source was an article from Bloomberg correspondent Jason Schreier, who has earned a reputation for himself for being a reliable game industry insider.
As per the report, the information comes from sources inside Activision Blizzard who are "familiar with the situation." This is mainly due to how "Vanguard," the latest mainline COD game, "failed to meet expectations." As such, this led executives in charge of the shooter franchise to believe that they're releasing "too rapidly."
Furthermore, it is also reported that the decision to postpone the next "Call Of Duty" game is not related to Microsoft's $68.7 billion purchase of the embattled developer/publisher, which is expected to close by next year.
For now, it seems like this year's COD release remains on track. That title is a purported follow-up to the massively popular free-to-play "Warzone" set to launch sometime this year, says Polygon. The game is planned for a "steady stream" of new content. Infinity Ward is said to be handling the main development work for the game.
News of the delay has also been shared by another renowned industry leaker, Tom Henderson, on Twitter:
Activision is set to delay next year's Call of Duty title.
— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) February 22, 2022
This will be the first title in nearly two decades where the franchise won't have a yearly CoD.
It looks like a lot is riding on Modern Warfare II.
According to his tweet, this will be the first time in almost 20 years that the franchise won't be launching a yearly COD game. He also claimed that the delay is to help make the first next-gen exclusive title for the franchise, which he claims is "exciting":
The "delay" to Call of Duty 2023 will not only make for a more polished product but be the first "current-gen only" Call of Duty title.
— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) February 22, 2022
Exciting times ahead for Call of Duty.
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What Will 'Call Of Duty' Bring For The Foreseeable Future?
There's not a lot of information about the 2024 game, so it's not going to be talked about much until probably at least next year. For now, however, there are various leaks pointing to the 2022 launch, which many say is a reboot of "Modern Warfare 2."
According to ComicBook.com, the rumored reboot is bringing massive improvements to the AI featured in the 2019 "Modern Warfare" remaster to the 2022 release. Twitter user Ralph posted a few unconfirmed details about the reworked AI system:
Based on what was shared in the tweet, it looks like this year's "Call Of Duty" game will be far more responsive to the player in terms of enemy AI. This could make the single-player campaign far tougher than just getting shot dead even when you're behind cover.
It's also likely reminiscent of how 343 Industries did the AI of "Halo Infinite" bots, which players said were moving and reacting like actual humans-sometimes even going as far as allegedly "teabagging" players when they get kills.
But since this is unconfirmed information, take all of this with a grain of salt.
Related Article: 'Call of Duty' 2022 to Have Early Launch? 'Vanguard' Poor Sale Might be the Reason! Things to Expect From 'Modern Warfare 2'
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by RJ Pierce
