Call of Duty 2023 reportedly delayed to 2024, this year’s release still on track

According to sources familiar with the matter, next year’s Call of Duty release, which is set to be developed by Treyarch, is delayed until 2024. However, things are still on schedule for 2022’s Modern Warfare 2 release, but what could this mean for our beloved FPS title that has had a new launch every year since 2005? Let’s break it down below.

Call of Duty getting delayed could be a very good thing for gamers

For over a decade, we’ve gotten a new Call of Duty title every single year. In fact, this trend has been going since 2005. While this means that gamers have gotten a new title every year, recently that has also meant that many launches have been filled with day-1 bugs due to how rushed development is. However, Bloomberg is reporting that next year, Activision is instructing Treyarch to take 2023 off and wait until 2024 to launch the next Call of Duty title.

Activision PR has come out with a non-denial denial, saying, “We have an exciting slate of premium and free-to-play Call of Duty experiences for this year, next year and beyond. We look forward to sharing more details when the time is right.” Essentially, they’re not actually denying the delay, but in the response from them it’s evident that there likely won’t be a full game next year. We say likely because this is still just a report, and nothing is set in stone until Activision officially announces it.

This year’s game, a sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare developed by Infinity Ward, is still on track for release alongside a Warzone 2. These two games will likely hold Call of Duty players over through 2023 with content updates for both titles, and honestly, I’m perfectly fine with that.

However, on the flip side, Call of Duty games regularly top the charts for best-sellers every year and they have sold more than 400 million units since the series began in 2003, according to Bloomberg. So, delaying next year’s title is something that Activision must take very seriously since that means a full year without a premium Call of Duty title. That is, unless they release an expansion to Modern Warfare 2 which adds additional content to the game, and honestly, I don’t think many would mind that.

9to5Toys’ Take

We’ll want to take all reports with a slight grain of salt here. Nothing is 100% confirmed, but the writing is on the wall. I’m happy that Activision is likely taking a year off from Call of Duty launches to work on polishing titles, as it’s something the series has needed for quite some time.

While I’ve always loved Call of Duty games, Cold War and Vanguard were quite underwhelming to me. The community also agrees, as Vanguard didn’t meet Activision’s sales expectations either. I hope Activision does decide to delay next year’s game and focus on making the 2024 launch a fantastic one. Consequently, as a huge Modern Warfare fan, I also hope that Infinity Ward gets another year to give us Modern Warfare 2 content and expands upon what could be the largest launch in the franchise’s history later this year.

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