In recent years, Call of Duty has been slowly sinking, with each new entry feeling less like a step forward and more like a franchise running on fumes, drifting further away from the spark that once made the genre so popular. Call of Duty is uninspired, churning out lifeless instalments to its subseries year after year despite a distinct lack of innovation in the mechanics they present, stories that fail to capture the attention of their audiences, and a lot of player fatigue thanks to these limitations. Black Ops 7 has brought all of these complaints to the fore, and the game’s developers have responded to those raised voices with what seems like a placatory attempt to do better.
However, the message brings to light a problem that showcases that perhaps Activision and the developers need to take a step back and re-evaluate a strategy that clearly isn’t working for them. But what was the mistake that has managed to elude the attention of the team? Why does it spell bad news for the franchise?
We’re diving into all of that as we break things down, and explore why Call of Duty might just be headed for further disasters down the line. Let’s jump in!
Damage Control Gone Wrong
Addressing the miserable reception, the developers released a message for its community. Despite all the usual promises of making things better, there was a particular focus on something which makes us uneasy about the future of COD. Things started off well enough with the developers assuring players that they are going to try making Black Ops 7 “one of the best shooter games”, even throwing in a free trial of the game’s multiplayer modes along with a Double XP weekend.
That’s all well and good. It’s probably going to bring a few players to the table. Everyone loves free stuff, after all. The promise of seasonal support is also quite alluring, along with the assertion that player feedback is going to shape the course of how things are made for the game. Up until this point, this is a step in the right direction, showcasing how the team behind the franchise’s content understands what its players want and is willing to commit to fixing its mistakes. Credit where it’s due.
But things don’t get better with the next statement. Speaking about future titles in the franchise the developers have stated that they would “no longer do back-to-back releases of Modern Warfare or Black Ops games…to ensure we provide an absolutely unique experience each and every year”. We’re sure that you, like us, have already spotted the glaring issue with this declaration. There is still going to be a new Call of Duty game every year. Player fatigue is a real thing, but the people behind the Call of Duty franchise seem to assume that it’s a myth. While flipping between various subseries within the franchise could certainly allow for some variety, it’s the fact that the franchise is going to stick to its annual release schedule that has us worried.
It’s a statement that undercuts everything good about the recent update, pinpointing a distinct lack of objectivity in the evaluation of player feedback. Yes, switching things up year after year could let the developers flex their creative chops a little more. But hasn’t the team considered what it could achieve with more time, allowing it to truly focus on delivering on its promise of driving innovation that is “meaningful, not incremental”?
If you’re thinking that switching between subseries is going to be a smart play for the franchise, and that perhaps we’re being a tad paranoid, we’re going to have to disagree. Let’s look at how things have been for the franchise in the past three years, beginning with 2023’s Modern Warfare 3, and dive into why continuing with annual releases isn’t going to fix things for the franchise’s dire straits.
More Titles, More Problems
MW3 2023 marked the beginning of a string of releases that were truly baffling in terms of their quality. For starters, the campaign’s early hours go against the genre’s formula and not in a good way. Its attempts to set up the big bad fall flat, while the missions themselves are downright tedious. The poor enemy AI, lack of interesting objectives and optional quests, and a multiplayer mode that failed to add much to the game’s overall promise.
However, the multiplayer modes were fairly okay and at best, acceptable, and perhaps something to take note of in an otherwise bland game. Black Ops 6 came along in 2024 and had us hoping against hope that the switch to another sub series could help inject some variety and true innovation into a formula that was already testing the patience of its players in the years before MW3.
But that was not to be. While the omnimovement system could have been a fantastic touch that changed the way its players approached the game’s grand set-pieces, it wasn’t really necessary to victory. It was a decision that undercut the very innovation that could have elevated Black Ops 6 and put the games back on the map.
That isn’t to say that the game didn’t have its moments. The campaign was certainly better than the one in the previous year, despite a rather annoying new UI that seemed to want to delay you from enjoying the game as much as possible. The multiplayer modes were sadly a downer, with boring map designs that made matches feel routine rather than fun, along with technical issues that marred the experience. It was clear that the franchise was not able to hit all the right notes, and its annual releases weren’t helping matters.
That brings us to this year, and Black Ops 7. We, along with many others, lamented what was the worst campaign we’d seen in the entire genre. But things might have been different if the rest of the game didn’t feel so drab, almost as if by design. We know that wasn’t the case but how could things go so wrong for these games that held an undeserving hold over its genre, and continues to annoy its players despite the shortcomings that every title presents?
It’s simple. It’s a matter of burnout, as it isn’t only gamers who suffer from spending too much time on annual titles that don’t really do much to stand out from the ones that came before them. And like a person who is unable to find their groove despite their best efforts, the franchise desperately needs a break if it is to ensure that its next instalments turn things around for it.
Should Call of Duty Lay Low For A Bit?
It’s fair that the team behind Black Ops 7 is reaching out to its players, this is the least they can do given the disaster they have released but this effort to try and earn back the trust of its disappointed fan base seems like all talk with no substance. Look, taking accountability for one’s failures and promising to do better is always a great choice, I mean, just take a look at Build A Rocket Boy’s truly tone-deaf effort to mitigate the backlash it was receiving for MindsEye earlier this year.
The developer’s and Activision’s decision to merely fix its games is not going to cut it in a world where excellent shooters like Fortnite, and ARC Raiders exist. Even the Battlefield franchise has managed to get an edge over COD this year despite Battlefield 6’s campaign also being disappointing to a certain degree.
You must be wondering that we’ve come down quite hard on Call of Duty, and that our criticism might seem like it’s unwarranted. But that’s far from the truth. Shooters are a popular genre and we absolutely love the good ones, but sincerely speaking, Call of Duty is well past his shelf time. And, given that there is no stopping the annual train, I see no future for these games in the genre. Call of Duty’s European sales are down more than 50% compared to Black Ops 6. Heck, it even sold 63% fewer copies than Battlefield 6 at launch. These numbers don’t lie and player fatigue is real, something the people behind Call of Duty don’t seem to understand, or perhaps they don’t care as long as money is flowing in.
For any great experience to happen, the game needs to be cooked well. And that needs time. Judging by the developer’s latest statements, it seems that the end results are not going to get any better.
Any video game franchise should be good enough to win player’s resources and money, and one cannot achieve that if it simply rushes its team to churn out a new title without actually lending it the substance and style it needs to actually be a great game. Cyberpunk 2077 should be a very important lesson to the team, and a reminder that good things take time. But hey, pretty sure this advice is going to fall on deaf ears.
I personally wish we don’t see another Call of Duty for a while, sure, its playerbase and hardcore fans will be disappointed but the truth is that there are far better experiences on the market that are doing some exceptional and unique things that the people behind Call of Duty can only imagine.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.