The yearly entries of the Call of Duty franchise have been topping the most sold games in the U.S. charts for over 15 years. However, signs are pointing to 2025 being a major outlier, with third-party sources and available player numbers showing a drastically lower-performing installment, which is Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. While no official numbers have been released, Activision today put out a statement announcing some changes to its release plans.
In a post on the Call of Duty blog, the Microsoft-owned company talks about the reactions to Black Ops 7 and feedback it has received from fans, going on to say that "the Franchise has not met your expectations fully."
"With respect to Black Ops 7, we set our sights to deliver a spiritual successor to Black Ops 2 and the studios have poured their passion into making a great game that all of us are very proud of," says the message. "But it’s one thing for us to say it, more importantly it’s up to you to try it and judge for yourselves."
The biggest change revealed today for the franchise is the halting of back-to-back launches for the same series.
For those in the dark, since 2022, a new trend appeared that saw the Modern Warfare and Black Ops Call of Duty subseries have two games in a row before switching. Prior to that, there was always at least a year in between direct sequels. Games with standalone settings, like historical or futuristic entries, usually came in to bridge any gaps as well.
.jpg){kind=link}
Modern Warfare II (2022) and Modern Warfare III (2023), as well as Black Ops 6 (2024) and Black Ops 7 (2025), broke that pattern. This has not worked out in Activision"s eyes, and it is going back to having a break between series. What is not changing is the yearly release schedule.
"We will no longer do back-to-back releases of Modern Warfare or Black Ops games. The reasons are many, but the main one is to ensure we provide an absolutely unique experience each and every year," says the blog post clearly. "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."
Activision also pledged "unprecedented seasonal support" for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 until it "earns its place as one of the best Black Ops games we’ve ever made." A free multiplayer and zombie trial will also kick off for the title soon for new players to try it out.