Call of Duty’s future shifts as Activision ends back-to-back Modern Warfare and Black Ops releases

Call of Duty is finally breaking its yearly pattern. After two straight years of Modern Warfare sequels followed by consecutive Black Ops entries, Activision has confirmed it is abandoning the back-to-back subseries cycle, marking a huge strategic pivot for one of the biggest video game franchises.

The huge (yet unsurprising) change follows growing criticism from fans, who have blamed the Call of Duty release formula for burnout, inconsistent quality, and, if we’re being honest, some pretty underwhelming sales as evidenced by Black Ops 7’s market performance.