2023 Call of Duty Entry Delayed Until 2024: Report

2023’s Call of Duty game may be delayed to the following year.

As reported by Bloomberg, Activision Blizzard is delaying 2023’s Call of Duty in hopes of further polishing the game. Seeing as Microsoft has announced its intention to continue developing Activision franchises for competing console platforms, that likely means we’ll see this new Call of Duty launch for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC.

This would mark the first time since 2004 that a year would pass without a new mainline Call of Duty game, which has gotten new entries on an annual basis since 2005’s Call of Duty 2.

There are multiple justifications floating around for the decision, however. For one, the last COD release, Vanguard, sold under expectations due to suspected over-saturation.

SCOOP: For the first time in two decades, Call of Duty will skip a year. Activision has delayed 2023’s game, made by Treyarch, to 2024, sources tell Bloomberg. It’s a shocking move that will have a massive impact on the franchise and the industry. https://t.co/tiozvqB1cE

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) February 22, 2022

For another, the ending of support for each game after roughly a year has proved controversial, and, finally, the behemoth of free-to-play Warzone means that the franchise’s focus possibly doesn’t have to be as laser-tuned on annual releases.

This delay, and Call of Duty 2023’s development, comes at a time of massive change for Activision Blizzard.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Microsoft will purchase the publisher for $68.7 billion USD. The deal is expected to be completed in Microsoft’s fiscal year 2023, which would likely make Treyarch’s next Call of Duty game the first under the Microsoft umbrella.

“We have an exciting slate of premium and free-to-play Call of Duty experiences for this year, next year and beyond,” a spokesman for Activision wrote in an emailed statement. “We look forward to sharing more details when the time is right.”