The Call Of Duty franchise has been a staple of mainstream gaming, especially in the age of streaming, for the better part of 17 years. In a decision that may surprise the community, publisher and developer Activision has decided to hold off on a new entry in the series for a year. According to Jason Schreier of Bloomberg, the company had planned to release a new Call Of Duty, but after the lackluster performance of its latest game, Call of Duty: Vanguard, many within the company felt that new versions were coming out too rapidly.

This will be the first time since 2004 that there will be a year long gap between games. Developed by Treyarch (along with a regular circle of developers within the company), Call of Duty: Vanguard suffered as a result of the previous year's game, the free-to-play battle royale Warzone, still garnering a large number of players. Vanguard's sales numbers still put it as a top seller of 2021, but it's met well below expectations, leading developer Infinity Ward hopes more details on the recently announced Modern Warfare 2 will tide matters.

A free-to-play CoD Warzone 2 is also still in the works for 2022, and it's reported that it won't feature 6v6 , multiplayer or a campaign, it's said that it will feature a "sandbox mode". More details on that are likely to come.

“We have an exciting slate of premium and free-to-play Call of Duty experiences for this year, next year and beyond,” an unnamed spokesman for Activision wrote in an emailed statement. “We look forward to sharing more details when the time is right.”

SOURCE: Bloomberg