Infinity Ward is developing this year’s Call of Duty entry, the studio confirmed in a recent cryptic tweet. Previous reports suggest that the 2022 entry will be a sequel to the Modern Warfare reboot. However, publisher Activision Blizzard also revealed that the series’ sales were dropping year-on-year.
Infinity Ward took to social media to tease their involvement in this year’s Call of Duty, stating “a new generation of Call of Duty is coming soon. Stay frosty.” Last year’s Call of Duty: Vanguard was developed by Advanced Warfare and WWII developer Sledgehammer Games, though sales haven’t been particularly strong according to Activision Blizzard.
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During the company’s fourth quarter 2021 financial results, Activision Blizzard revealed that Infinity Ward were working on this year’s Call of Duty, but also reported that overall series sales were declining every year.
Vanguard premium sales has dropped year-over-year compared to 2020’s Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War, and engagement was down in Call of Duty: Warzone too. In the UK, Vanguard reported 36% fewer sales than Black Ops Cold War last year.
However, Call of Duty Mobile showed stellar growth driven by contribution from China, seeing consumers spending in excess of $1 billion in 2021.
This year’s Call of Duty will reportedly be a “grittier” sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare, and will apparently be centered around a drug war against the Columbian cartels. Little else is known about the upcoming title.
That said, Activision Blizzard’s recent acquisition by Microsoft could change the tide of the Call of Duty franchise. The next couple of years will see multiplatform releases for newer entries, but beyond that, it’s possible that Xbox will change the series’ development cycle. One of these priorities is apparently to stop releasing Call of Duty titles annually.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is currently available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
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Source: Infinity Ward
