In a new Call Of Duty blog post, publisher Activision has committed to not do back-to-back sequels to Modern Warfare and Black Ops.
“The reasons are many, but the main one is to ensure we provide an absolutely unique new experience each and every year,” the post reads. “We will drive innovation that is meaningful, not incremental.”
One of the many reasons for this change of strategy is the current reception of Call Of Duty Black Ops 7. Following the thrilling reveal, it all went downhill from there. Despite this year’s COD restricting skins in multiplayer so the lobbies look like soldiers shooting each other again without goofy and over-the-top skins, the co-op campaign is a wild trip featuring giant boss fights and hallucinations that enables goofy and over-the-top sequences.
According to our resident Call Of Duty enjoyer, the multiplayer, based on the beta sessions leading to launch, isn’t in a good state either.
The Call Of Duty series regularly rotates the main developer and series lines. Infinity Ward now heads the Modern Warfare entries. Treyarch handles Black Ops. While Sledgehammer Games still doesn’t have specific bankable series but they previously handled the modern take of World War II, the setting the series started of as.
Starting 2011, with COD Modern Warfare III (2011), the trio of main developers are on rotation every year, which also meant the different sub-series don’t get direct sequels the next year. Treyarch leads the 2012 COD, Black Ops 2, and 2013 it was Infinity Ward’s turn with Ghosts.
This changed in 2023 when it was Sledgehammer Games’ turn to follow-up Modern Warfare II (2022) with… Modern Warfare III (2023).
While 2024 sees a return to good form when Treyarch (and Raven Software) brought Black Ops 6, for some reason the lead COD dev didn’t cycle for 2025, as we see the same devs having to make another game for the next year, but also a direct sequel.
Metacritic score for Black Ops 7 across three platforms are averaged out to be 66 on a 100-score scale. Not as bad as Modern Warfare III (2023) but these two are lower-rated compared to non-back-to-back releases.
Despite this, the Call Of Duty team is still driven as ever. “We know what you expect and rest assured we will deliver, and overdeliver, on those expectations as we move forward,” the post reads.
Call Of Duty Black Ops 7 will have a free trial where you can try out multiplayer and zombies without making a purchase, which should come along with a Double XP weekend.
On top of that, live service support will continue with Season 01 as “we won’t rest until Black Ops 7 earns its place as one of the best Black Ops games we’ve ever made.”
Call Of Duty Black Ops 7 is out now on PS5, PC and Xbox Series X|S.