Activision Blizzard has confirmed that the Call of Duty franchise will no longer be released year after year.
Instead, the publisher is moving towards an "always-on" live service business model that seems to put more emphasis on multiplayer transactions like season passes, playable operators, and more.
Prominent Call of Duty News Twitter account CharlieIntel shared a statement from an Activision Blizzard spokesperson, along with an internal company email detailing plans for the publisher to convert all QA testers ( QA) based in the US in full-time employees, probably in support. of the biggest change in the Call of Duty franchise to a live service model.
NEW: Activision Blizzard is announcing that all US-based QA testers will become full-time employees, have access to full benefits and an hourly wage increase to a minimum of €20/hour. Company statement + internal email: pic.twitter.com/SWsD8aKfAWAPril 7, 2022
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What this decision implies is that future Call of Duty titles, and future iterations of Warzone, should have a much longer support period.
The best case scenario here would be that all of the development teams working on Call of Duty projects have more time to polish their games and multiplayer modes, and the redesign of the QA team could provide a higher level of support and feedback.
But what about the worst case?
What happens to Call of Duty from here?
Terms like "always on" and "live service" have developed a stigma over the years, and rightly so, but not just because live service games strictly require players to be connected to the internet at all times.
Live service games, by definition, are life support from day one. More often than not, they rely on a steady stream of revenue from the player base in the form of season pass purchases, microtransactions, and other pieces of downloadable content. But even that comes after being able to maintain a large and healthy community of players who are happy with the quality of the whole package.
Not that Call of Duty is in any real danger of experiencing a player shortage. Since the release of Call of Duty 4 in 2007, the franchise has become one of the most played and highest grossing franchises in video game history. But that popularity becomes a double-edged sword when you're looking to turn your franchise into an "always on" model.
What this shift in focus means for Activision Blizzard's development teams is that they will likely be more tied to Call of Duty than ever. And when your games are constantly in need of patches, updates, emergency maintenance periods, etc., development teams working on CoD mines may not be able to work on other popular Activision-owned franchises like Crash Bandicoot or Spyro the Dragon. .
While live service models have the potential to bring people together or provide unique experiences you won't find in other smaller-scale multiplayer games (see Fortnite crossover wacky or epic adventure on the high seas of Sea of Thieves), the editors Live operating services must ensure that players are always satisfied.
Obviously we can't speak to the overall quality of Call of Duty games going forward, but the much greater focus on live service models has us nervous. We may see lower quality single player campaigns, for example less experimentation with time frames and settings (as advocated by Call of Duty games including Black Ops, Infinite Warfare and World at War).
Not to mention, it can also lead to less overall player agency. If the publisher decides to investigate "FOMO" (the fear of missing out, a common phenomenon often created by temporary content like battle passes and limited-time game modes), it could very easily frustrate more players than it wants to.