Call of Duty will no longer make back-to-back Modern Warfare or Black Ops game releases

Call of Duty will no longer release multiple Black Ops or Modern Warfare games consecutively, following two Modern Warfare releases in 2022 and 2023, and two Black Ops releases in 2024 and 2025, respectively, and negative feedback and sales reports for the most recent release, Black Ops 7.

This news was announced by the “Call of Duty team” (bringing together studios Treyarch, Sledgehammer, Infinity Ward and Raven Software) on the official website, in a post acknowledging criticism of Black Ops 7 as well as broader criticism of the franchise in recent years. When opening the message:

First of all, thank you everyone for the feedback we have received over the past few months. Call of Duty has enjoyed long-standing success thanks to all of you, a passionate community that demands excellence and deserves nothing less. We also know that for some of you, the Franchise has not fully met your expectations. To be very clear, we know what you expect and rest assured that we will meet and exceed those expectations as we move forward.

The post goes on to point out a number of changes Call of Duty Studios will be making in the future. For starters, they’re opening up Black Ops 7’s multiplayer zombies mode for a free trial and Double XP weekend next week, aiming to get those who were on the fence about Black Ops 7 to “experience the game for themselves and decide for yourselves.” They’re also pledging “unprecedented support for the season,” saying they “won’t rest until Black Ops 7 earns its place as one of the best Black Ops games we’ve ever made.”

Then the team had this to say about future Call of Duty releases:

We will no longer be doing back-to-back releases of Modern Warfare or Black Ops games. The reasons are many, but the main one is to ensure that we deliver an absolutely unique experience every year.

We will promote meaningful, non-incremental innovation. Although we don’t share these plans today, we look forward to doing so when the time comes.

The note concludes by saying that the team believes Call of Duty’s “best days are ahead of us” and that the next era of Call of Duty “will deliver precisely what you want with a few surprises that will move the franchise and the genre forward.”

These changes come amid, and likely in response to, a rough few years for the Call of Duty franchise. The most recent entry, Black Ops 7, debuted last month to middling reviews, including our own 6/10 campaign review, 6/10 Zombies, and a significantly better 8/10 multiplayer review. This also comes against the backdrop of Black Ops 7 and Modern Warfare 3 receiving poor reviews compared to their immediate predecessors in the series the previous year, with Black Ops 6 and Modern Warfare 2 being generally favorably received. This probably explains, at least in part, the decision to stop back-to-back releases.

For Black Ops 7, this lukewarm reception was also reflected in the game’s sales figures, especially compared to another recent major multiplayer shooter, Battlefield 6. The game had a “terrible” launch in Europe, down 63% compared to Battlefield 6 and more than 50% compared to last year’s Black Ops 6 in equivalent periods.

It’s worth noting that we don’t have full visibility into Black Ops 7’s sales data, as it launched day one on Game Pass, and a number of people likely played the game through the subscription service and didn’t count as unit sales.

Still, today’s announcement feels like an admission that something is wrong here. It will take a few years to truly understand if the Call of Duty team can fix the problem.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Do you have a history tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.