Call of Duty 2023 Will Reportedly Continue Modern Warfare 2 Story, 2024 Entry May Launch on Past-Gen Consoles and More

A new Call of Duty game is set to release in 2023.

According to a report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, the game is being developed by Sledgehammer Games, the makers of Call of Duty: Vanguard. Infinity Ward will be responsible for supervision, the same team that worked on the Modern Warfare series.

The report also suggests that the game will be a standalone, full-price release, that will feel like an extension of Modern Warfare 2. Initially, the game was supposed to be a major expansion of MW2 with single-player and multiplayer content, but it has now “morphed” into a full game release. Some content from MW2 will reportedly carry over to the new title.

According to Schreier, Activision briefed its staff on a “brand new vision for Call of Duty in which the series would switch between Modern Warfare and Black Ops games, receiving two years of support.”

Call of Duty’s 2024 entry may arrive to past-gen consoles

According to documents from the Activision data breach from December 2022 obtained by Insider Gaming, Call of Duty 2024, codenamed Cerberus, could be released on past generation consoles.

While it was previously believed that the franchise would end its past generation releases with Call of Duty 2023, this new information suggests that there may be at least one more past-gen game in the series.

However, it should be noted that the information obtained from the data breach may not be entirely accurate or up-to-date, as some information may have already changed since it was released publicly on Twitter.

Sony’s PlayStation deal with Activision Blizzard will end next year

Sony’s long-running partnership with Activision that saw exclusive Call of Duty content released first on PlayStation platforms will soon end, according to Microsoft President Brad Smith. In an interview with CNBC, Smith revealed that Sony’s current deal with Activision will expire next year.

The deal has been a major factor in the success of the PlayStation platform, with heavy PlayStation marketing for Call of Duty games. Call of Duty 2024, which is codenamed Cerberus as noted before, will be the last title in the deal.

In Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard press conference in Brussels on February 21, the company said PlayStation has the majority of control over the console market. Smith said that Sony’s PlayStation currently controls a 70% share of the global console market. Microsoft’s share of the pie? Just 30%.

Activision’s union suggest better future under Microsoft, while Sony takes discounted margin on Call of Duty sales

The Communication Workers of America (CWA) has written to European Union regulators supporting Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, stating that the deal would benefit workers (via GI.biz).

The union told regulators that it was worried that employers might have more power over workers, but after talking to Microsoft, both sides came to a neutrality agreement, which will make sure that Activision Blizzard workers have a clear path to collective bargaining. The CWA cited management intransigence at Activision and allegations of sexual harassment as reasons why the merger would be better for workers, as it would make it easier to unionise employees.

Meanwhile, UK regulators at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have uncovered that Sony takes a “discounted margin” on Call of Duty sales and earnings on PlayStation, giving Activision a larger revenue cut. According to recent filings (via Tweak Town), the standard 70-30 split is not in place for Activision. Instead, Sony gives the game developer and publisher a higher revenue cut for all Call of Duty game sales and earnings it makes on the PlayStation platform. While the exact ratio between Activision and Sony remains unclear, the CMA notes that this practice is not uncommon in the industry.