Activision says no more back-to-back years for Black Ops or Modern Warfare

In the past, Activision kept things fresh for Call of Duty fans by switching between one of its ‘mainline' series every year. You would get Black Ops one year, Modern Warfare the next, and then another title like COD: WWII or Advanced Warfare thrown into the mix as well. That has changed in recent years with back-to-back Black Ops and Modern Warfare releases – something that Activision intends to stop doing.

In a message shared by Activision this week, the publisher acknowledges disappointment in incremental releases, like the back-to-back releases of Modern Warfare 2 & 3, and then 2024 and 2025's back-to-back releases of Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7. The message comes after reports that Black Ops 7 sales took a significant dip compared to last year's Black Ops 6.

“Our strategy going forward is changing”, Activision said. “We will no longer do back-to-back releases of Modern Warfare or Black Ops games. The reasons are many, but the main one is to ensure we provide an absolutely unique experience each and every year.”

Activision says that Call of Duty is still “very strong” but the fact that this statement is being made suggests that Black Ops 7 has indeed ushered in a ‘down' year for the franchise. It is unclear why Activision dropped its ‘three pillar' approach to Call of Duty to begin with, but it likely had something to do with capitalising on the popularity of Modern Warfare and Black Ops, which are still to date the most popular sub-series in the Call of Duty arsenal. Unfortunately, they didn't factor in the idea that fans would get bored without the multi-year break between releases.

KitGuru Says: I quickly began tuning out COD when they began doing back-to-back releases in 2022 and 2023. Double dipping on Modern Warfare and Black Ops has already gotten old. Give Sledgehammer some creative freedom back and let them continue to try and establish a true ‘third pillar'.

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