Call of Duty is reportedly skipping its annual entry in 2023

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Sounds like next year will be the first without a new Call of Duty since 2004

Call of Duty Warzone
(Image credit: Activision)

Update: An Activision spokesperson reached out to GamesRadar with a response to the below report, explaining that there are multiple Call of Duty "experiences" planned for the coming years.

The statement doesn't challenge any specific elements of our story or Bloomberg's original reporting, but it does characterize recent reports as inaccurate.

Here's the statement in full:

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"We have an exciting slate of premium and free-to-play Call of Duty experiences for this year, next year and beyond. Reports of anything otherwise are incorrect.  We look forward to sharing more details when the time is right."

Original story:

Activision has reportedly decided to delay next year's Call of Duty out of 2023, though it's said that the recently confirmed Modern Warfare sequel is still due out this year.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Activision is planning a big showing for next year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sequel - so big apparently that the publisher has cleared out a second year to support the game. If confirmed, 2023 will be the first year since 2004 without an annual Call of Duty game.

In the same report, it's said that Treyarch, the studio developing the delayed and untitled Call of Duty, will now help with the development of an unspecified free-to-play online title launching next year. It would seem that the report is referring to Call of Duty: Warzone 2 as the free-to-play game, but that's unconfirmed. Treyarch's next mainline Call of Duty game is now said to be due out in 2024.

Call of Duty: Vanguard's middling commercial performance is cited as a primary reason for the decision to delay. Apparently, the title's lackluster sales led some executives to consider the possibility that the publisher is launching Call of Duty titles too closely together. It's unclear if Activision plans to continue spacing out Call of Duty releases after 2024 or resume its traditional yearly schedule.

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Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick
Staff Writer

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.