Activision has outlined a new shift for Call of Duty’s annual release plan, one that aims to prevent back-to-back years focused on the same sub-franchise like Black Ops or Modern Warfare.

Another year brings another Call of Duty. It’s been that way since 2005 and Activision has no plans of slowing down anytime soon. However, the publishing giant has announced a new shift on the back of Black Ops 7 release.

This year’s annual entry launched on November 14 and reportedly failed to match sales of last year’s Black Ops 6. The player count has fallen short of previous years, and user reviews are mostly negative as some label BO7 the “worst CoD of all time.

On the back of the reception, Activision addressed the community in a December 9 post admitting that for some, “the franchise has not met your expectations fully.”

As such, the CoD publisher has a new plan in place to combat the negative reception, and it involves a greater deal of variety moving forward.

Activision outlines Call of Duty shakeup

“Rest assured, we will deliver, and overdeliver, on expectations as we move forward,” Activision said in its statement.

As part of its plan to exceed expectations, they’ve assured Black Ops 7 will become “one of the best Black Ops games ever made in terms of content and support” thanks to its seasonal updates.

But beyond that, Activision detailed its roadmap for annual releases moving forward. Now, we won’t be seeing two Black Ops or Modern Warfare games in a row, for instance, as they declared they will “no longer do back-to-back releases.

“The reasons are many, but the main one is to ensure we provide an absolutely unique experience each and every year.

“We will drive innovation that is meaningful, not incremental. While we aren’t sharing those plans today, we look forward to doing so when the time is right.”

This, therefore, confirms the 2026 release will not be an entry in the Black Ops franchise.

Only recently did we see this trend in practice. 2022’s Modern Warfare II was followed by Modern Warfare III in 2023. Then, in 2024 we got Black Ops 6, followed by the current game, Black Ops 7. Over the previous 18 releases, no two games in the same sub-franchise ever released concurrently.

“The future of Call of Duty is very strong and we believe our best days are ahead of us given the depth and talent of our development teams.”