Activision says next year's Call of Duty will be a "full premium" release
Despite reports of a MW2 expansion in 2023.
Activision has detailed more of its plans for Call of Duty in 2023, saying next year will bring the series' "next full premium release" - a statement initially appearing to contradict previous reports there'd be no brand-new Call of Duty title in 2023.
According to Activision's newly revealed third quarter financial results, 2023 will bring "the most robust Call of Duty live operations to date, the next full premium release in the blockbuster annual series, and even more engaging free-to-play experiences across platforms".
It's the talk of the "next full premium release" that's caught people's attention, particularly in light of claims made by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier in February that Call of Duty wouldn't be getting a new mainline series entry in 2023 - marking the first time in just under two decades it had skipped an annual release. Schreier then expanded on those assertions last month, saying Activision would instead be "selling new stuff" for Modern Warfare 2 - "an expansion or something like that" including "campaign stuff".
Schreier has now doubled down on those earlier claims following Activision's latest financial results, insisting 2023's Call of Duty release - the one the publisher is calling the series' "next full premium" game - will be a continuation of Modern Warfare 2. "It's called a full premium release," Schreier wrote on Twitter, "because they're probably going to market and sell it as a $70 game with new single- and multiplayer content."
Schreier then elaborated further, calling the release - which he says is being developed by Sledgehammer - "like an expansion but big enough that they can sell it for full price". He added the next Call of Duty game, developed by Treyarch, would release in 2024.
Whatever next year's title ends up being, Call of Duty fans won't exactly be short of things to keep them amused in the interim. Following the hugely successful launch of Modern Warfare 2 in October, free-to-play battle royale sequel Warzone 2.0 arrives on 16th November, and Call of Duty Warzone: Mobile, a new venture for iOS and Android, is expected to release next year.