An insider suggests that Microsoft is questioning the future of Call Of Duty, which could result in studio mergers between Sledgehammer and others.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 might be selling well in the context of gaming at large, but for a Call Of Duty title, it’s been a notable flop.
Aside from the record low sales in some parts of the world, Black Ops 7’s failure is clear based on Activision’s recent statement on the franchise’s future, where it promised to never release back-to-back sequels of Modern Warfare or Black Ops games again.
This downturn appears to have rippled upwards to Microsoft management, who are apparently rethinking Call Of Duty’s monetisation models for the future.
According to prominent Call Of Duty leaker TheGhostOfHope, Activision’s shooter series is facing pressure from Microsoft ‘to change its model’ after Black Ops 7 failed to meet financial expectations.
‘Microsoft wants to see Call Of Duty overall move towards a smoother revenue stream and a reduced expenditure pattern,’ the leaker wrote on X.
‘Microsoft has also supposedly told higher-ups within Call Of Duty that changes are very much required and nothing is off the table, including studio mergers and a complete rethink of monetisation models within the franchise.’
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Call Of Duty has released annual instalments since 2005’s Call Of Duty 2. Ever since last year’s Black Ops 6, following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Call Of Duty games have launched day one on the Xbox Game Pass subscription service, which likely impacted overall sales.
Development on Call Of Duty games is split between three studios (Treyarch, Infinity Ward, and Sledgehammer), so if this report is true, it sounds like Microsoft is considering a merger to reduce the financial burden. As the youngest and least prolific of the three, that puts Sledgehammer firmly in the firing line.
When you consider how successful Call Of Duty has been over the past decade though, it’s hard not to question if Microsoft is simply reaching for the layoff button again, to boost its end of year reports.
None of this has been confirmed, but if you were to listen to recent comments from Microsoft’s president of game content and studios, Matt Booty, you’d think everything around Black Ops 7’s launch was hunky dory.
Speaking to Variety about the lacklustre launch, Booty said: ‘Right now, it is one of the most-played games on Xbox. And I’m really proud of what the team did, in terms of feature innovation, moving the franchise forward.
‘Shipping a major franchise like clockwork every year is a really difficult task, and I’m really proud of what the team did to move the franchise forward in that way. And the interesting thing about Call Of Duty is, I think that as an IP, it is really well positioned to continue to deliver content for players going forward; the system of seasons.
‘And it’s not just about the launch, but it’s kind of in its own unique category and ability in terms of how the team keeps delivering content throughout the year. So we’re real happy with where we’ve landed with that.’
As we’ve seen with Xbox before though, what an executive says and does are two very different things – so we’ll have to wait and see how this develops. Especially as Microsoft as a whole is rumoured to be planning major layoffs early next year.
Based on prior leaks, next year’s Call Of Duty is set to be a sequel to Modern Warfare 3 from Infinity Ward, with South Korea and North Korea rumoured to play a significant role in the campaign.
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