Activision
Activision has just revealed plans for the next installments in the Call of Duty series: sequels to 2019’s Modern Warfare and the battle royale spin-off game Warzone.
On the official Call of Duty blog, the developers said that 2022 would be a year of change for the series, which will evolve the current state of the franchise. Developed by the original Call of Duty creators, Infinity Ward, the big centerpiece of COD in 2022, will be the sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare, a reboot of the original 2007 game. Along with that, Warzone 2 will also be released, allowing players to dive into a new map with more weapons, along with an additional sandbox mode — a first for the franchise.
Though details are light at this time, the news of COD’s 2022 plans lines up with rumors from last year. These rumors hinted at plans to revamp Warzone and return to the Modern Warfare subseries while also updating the technology powering both games. Modern Warfare 2019 was a big hit with players, quickly becoming the best-selling game in franchise history.
Along with plans for future games, the dev blog also talked about upcoming patches for the current iteration of Warzone and Call of Duty Vanguard — the most recent tentpole release that takes place during World War II. In addition to the general quality-of-life updates, the developers said that they listen to community feedback to improve both online multiplayer for Vanguard and Warzone. Though Warzone continues to be a popular game online, it’s seen a host of issues that have hampered performance and gameplay — resulting in some pushback from fans.
This news brings even more attention to Activision, which has seen lot of activity in recent months. Along with the recent and still hotly debated acquisition by Microsoft, the ongoing controversy regarding employee harassment and abuse is still front of mind for many people. Protests and discussions about last year’s revelations of company mismanagment are still happening, which has seen employee walkouts and even efforts to unionize by Activision developer Raven Software — a first for a developer within Activision.
2022 will no doubt will be a year of change for Call of Duty, but also for Activision. Stay tuned to CNET for all ongoing developments with Activision and the Call of Duty franchise.