CALL of Duty looks set to MISS its annual mainline release next year for the first time in under two decades.
Owners Activision are reportedly skipping 2023 due to poor performance of a recent release in the franchise, likely referring to Vanguard.
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Sales of the title were much lower than previous entries.
According to Bloomberg, some bosses at the firm think new versions are being introduced “too rapidly”.
However, Call of Duty’s new free-to-play online spinoff is set to continue as planned to fill the void.
Techies from Treyarch, the Activision-owned company developing the delayed game, will instead lend a helping hand on the free project.
Fans have enjoyed a premium entry from the gaming giant’s huge franchise every year since 2005.
There are concerns that Call of Duty: Vanguard may have suffered as a result of 2020’s massively successful free-to-play version Call of Duty: Warzone.
Vanguard’s sales nose-dived by 36% compared to its predecessor Black Ops Cold War.
Despite this, the title still managed to top the best-seller game charts.
It all comes at a major time for Activision, which was bought by Microsoft for a staggering $68.7billion / £50.5billion in January.
The purchase is the tech behemoth’s biggest purchase to date and is thought to be the biggest gaming acquisition ever.
Activision Blizzard has also been under the spotlight recently for sexual harassment allegations.
The company was sued by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) last July.
It was accused of promoting a culture of “constant sexual harassment.”
Multiple employees have come forward with sexual harassment claims since then.
