According to new reports from the US site Kotaku, the next Call of Duty, which is set to release in 2020, will now be Black Ops 5 and will be available for PS4, Xbox One, PS5, and the next Xbox. The plan has been changed due to development problems.
Where does the information come from? The information comes from the US site Kotaku, which was apparently working on an “insider report” about Activision Blizzard and has stumbled upon new information in the research that it wanted to publish immediately.
In the article, the author relies on sources who wish to remain anonymous but are familiar with the matter.
The author behind the story, Jason Schreier, is known for having insights into large US studios and has frequently reported on Activision studios. For example, there were already reports prior to the layoffs at Activision Blizzard or about the development history of Destiny.
Sledgehammer Studio in Crisis
This was the original plan: Normally, Activision Blizzard has a rotation for Call of Duty. They have three studios that take turns developing a new Call of Duty each year.
It is said that Call of Duty 2020 was supposed to be developed by Sledgehammer. They were to work with the “Raven” studio from Wisconsin, who were also supposed to take a lead role in the game.
The two studios want to develop a Call of Duty set during the Cold War.
However, there were supposed to be difficulties between Sledgehammer and Raven. They reportedly often argued about the direction of the development last year.
Kotaku reports that two sources described Call of Duty 2020 as a “mess,” meaning a disaster.
Additionally, two founders left Sledgehammer. The studio has lost several developers in recent months, which has affected the morale of the remaining developers.
This is the new plan: Activision has now reportedly given control of Call of Duty 2020 to the Treyarch studio (Black Ops 4). Sledgehammer and Raven are supposed to support them.
They are supposed to reshape their work on the single-player campaign of the previous game into the campaign for Black Ops 5. The campaign is also to take place during the Cold War.
Call of Duty Black Ops 4 was criticized for lacking a campaign.
It is said that Black Ops 5 will likely come for the new console generation and is expected in the fall of 2020.
This is also interesting: Allegedly, Black Ops 4 did not sell as well as initially thought. Despite a strong start, things did not go as well as the “bean counters at Activision” had expected.
Therefore, Activision is now considering switching to a free-to-play model. This is also being considered for a mode in Modern Warfare 4, which is set to release this year. However, they are still unsure about this.