[GameSpot] - Call Of Duty 2023 Will Be A "Full" Game Connected To Modern Warfare, Report Says

[343iBot]

Will there be a new Call of Duty game in 2023 or not? That's been the subject of a good amount of speculation in recent times. Now, a report says Activision is going forward with a "full premium standalone release" in 2023. It was previously reported that Activision would instead opt to release "premium DLC" for Modern Warfare II instead of a new game in 2023.

Insider-Gaming reported that this "appears to have been true at one point," but now Activision has decided to release a full game. Very little is known about what COD 2023 could be, but Insider-Gaming reported that it will be "heavily connected" to the Modern Warfare series.

Sledgehammer Games is the reported developer of COD 2023, but like with Activision's other Call of Duty games, development will be distributed between Activision's numerous other studios, the report said.

Insider-Gaming went on to report that COD 2023 will have two beta weeks, an early access campaign period, and a "full marketing strategy" in line with previous mainline Call of Duty games.

Things could change, but for now, Insider-Gaming reported that COD 2023 will launch on November 10, with campaign early access starting November 2. Beta weekends will take place October 6-10 (for PlayStation) and October 12-16 (for everyone), the report said.

During an earnings call this week, Activision reiterated that the company will launch the "next full annual premium release" in the Call of Duty series later in 2023. A report from Bloomberg said Activision would buck with tradition and skip a traditional mainline Call of Duty release in 2023.

Reporter Jason Schreier shed some light on the situation, saying Black Ops studio Treyarch had planned to release a new Call of Duty game in 2023. In early 2022, Activision delayed Treyarch's game to 2024, Schreier said, and instead opt to "fill in the blanks" with additional Modern Warfare content from Sledgehammer. Now, he reported, Activision decided to "frame it as a full release."

I'll write a story at some point but what happened was: Treyarch's game was planned for 2023. Early last year, they decided to delay Treyarch's game to 2024 and fill in the blanks with more MW stuff from Sledgehammer. And at some point they decided to frame it as a full release

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) February 9, 2023

NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said if Activision does not release a new mainline Call of Duty game this year, it could have a major, lasting negative impact on the video game industry.

2022's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is a sales juggernaut, setting a record for the franchise dating back to 2003. The long-awaited Season 2 update arrives on February 15.

Microsoft is in the process of attempting to purchase Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, and it would be the largest-ever acquisition in video games. It's not a done deal, though, as the FTC has sued Microsoft to try to stop the deal.

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