As reported by SF Chronicle, a state notice in California has revealed that 76 people will be laid off at an Activision studio located in Foster City. The address provided for the studio matches the address of Sledgehammer Games office. Meanwhile, last month, it was also reported by Insider Gaming that Sledgehammer was shutting down its office and going fully remote on a temporary basis, as it looks to relocate to a smaller office space.

Sledgehammer Games has been focused exclusively on Call of Duty since its inception in 2009. On top of co-developing and providing development assistance for a number of titles in the series, the studio has also served as the lead developer on four instalments- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Call of Duty: WW2, Call of Duty: Vanguard, and last year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

In addition to that, another interest tidbit that the report has revealed is that Modern Warfare 3 was apparently not even the game Sledgehammer itself wanted to work on. As per the report, after development was wrapped up on 2021’s Call of Duty: Vanguard, the studio pitched a title codenamed Anvil to parent company Activision, which was supposed to be set in the same universe as and serve as a follow-up to 2014’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

Apparently, some amount of work was put into the project, though before it could get too far in development, it had to be shelved, with Activision informing Sledgehammer that it would instead be working on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time that Sledgehammer Games has attempted to get a sequel to the fan-favourite 2014 title off the ground. In 2017, it was reported that before development began on Call of Duty: WW2, the studio’s first choice was to work on an Advanced Warfare sequel. Whether or not we will actually get to see Sledgehammer returning to that setting at some point in the future remains to be seen, but the studio will certainly be hoping that things are different from here on out, under the new ownership of Microsoft.

In its latest quarterly financial report, Activision Blizzard reported a steep drop-off in its monthly active users count, especially where the Activision side of things is concerned. Standing at 150 million as of March 31, 2021, a year later, as of March 31 of this year, that number stands at 100 million- which is still quite a high figure, but represents the decline that Call of Duty has been on of late.

Activision attributes this to a couple of factors, namely, “lower engagement” in Call of Duty: Warzone and “lower premium sales” for Call of Duty: Vanguard, which has also resulted in a year-on-year decline in Q1 of 2022 for Call of Duty’s net bookings on PC and consoles. Call of Duty Mobile, on the other hand, hasn’t seen much change to its numbers.

Activision will be hoping that upcoming Call of Duty releases will reverse the series’ fortunes once again. Call of Duty: Warzone’s sequel is set to be revealed in the coming months, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)’s follow-up is being hyped up and teased ahead of its official announcement as well. Meanwhile, Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is also in development, though it’s been reported that there will be no new premium Call of Duty release in 2023.

The free-to-play version will include a selection of maps and modes including but not limited to the likes of Shipment, Casablanca, Gondola, and a new objective-based capture the base game mode. This offer will be available to players on all platforms, and any progress earned during the free-play should carry over if you decide to pick the game up.

Recent reports have suggested that 2023’s Call of Duty title (developed by Treyarch) has been internally delayed, with the series skipping a 2023 release to break its cycle of annual new release. Meanwhile, this year will see the launch of follow-ups to Call of Duty: Warzone and 2019’s Modern Warfare, both developed by Infinite Ward.

As per a report by GamesIndustry, several of last year’s games such as Far Cry 6, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart, which were some of the best-sellers of the year, performed very well, selling more physically than digitally. The only exception to this is Resident Evil Village, which was marginally a little bit more popular on the digital front.

Nintendo games continue to perform well physically, unsurprisingly. Of all the physical copies sold, Switch had a share of 47%. Apart from that, FIFA 22‘s digital sales share was 61%, making it the fastest-growing digital product in the country, whereas the Call of Duty franchise saw the digital share drop year on year, with Call of Duty: Vanguard’s share being 58%.

EA’s F1 2021 in the end takes the bag for the biggest digital sales share for a new release, enjoying a 64% digital sales split.

Below, you can have a look at the 2021 UK sales chart with digital sales split to get an overview of the current market situation.

While the patch notes for season 2 are pretty expansive and filled to the brim with information about all the new things being added to the game, some of the key takeaways are the new vehicles that are being added, such as Bomber Plane, new locations, like the Chemical factory and underground Chemical Weapon Research Labs, new gameplay features, such as the addition of Nebula V ammo and Bombs, quality of life updates, and much more. Season 2 will also bring in a new 100 tier battle pass for players to earn rewards in, of course.

Raven Software has also made the download size for the updates available, with PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 needing 14.1 GB of space, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S needing 13.7 GB of space, and PC needing a combined space of 15.5 GB if one wants to download the Warzone and Modern Warfare updates together- otherwise, it will only require 11.5 GB for just the former.

You can read the patch notes in their entirety through the lin. For now, here are some key highlights from the Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Vanguard Season 2 update, which is now live on all platforms.

SEASON 2 OVERVIEW:

Key Takeaways

New Gameplay Features

• Nebula V Ammo and Bombs create new offensive tactics, while Portable Decontamination Stations offer temporary refuge. A.I. threats now occupy Caldera, offering new opportunities for valuable loot. Alternatively, take to the skies with Redeploy Balloons or… 

New Vehicle

• The Bomber Plane is a formidable air-to-ground striker capable of leveling infantry and vehicles. Bombers can also destroy Loadout Drops, which can fundamentally change how Operators approach these powerful sources of weapons.

New Locations

• Explore the Chemical Factory and underground Chemical Weapon Research Labs, Watch for an Armored Transport. Fresh points of interest in Caldera are here to shake up those rotations. Axis soldiers patrol these new areas and are found around the island in vehicles…Defeat them for powerful rewards. 

New Modes

• Caldera Clash at Launch, Rebirth Reinforced shortly thereafter. The massive team fight returns — rank up those weapons and fight for Caldera outside of traditional modes. Meanwhile, there are rumors of a resurgence at Rebirth Island…but we’re not talking about the game mode.

Quality of Life Updates

• Our philosophy for Season Two is to continue the momentum from Season One in addressing Quality of Life issues that have been affecting second-to-second gameplay in Warzone. We’ve revisited new and existing feedback alike to tighten up the detail and improve the experience. This represents a continuation of our focused efforts in Quality of Life improvements, with plenty more to come in the 2nd half of Season Two – and beyond. 

The publisher confirmed that year-on-year sales for the Call of Duty franchise are down, with the 2021 premium release Call of Duty: Vanguard selling markedly lower than Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (even though Vanguard was still one of 2021’s top-sellers). The free-to-play battle royale Call of Duty: Warzone also had lower engagement this quarter. On the flip side, Call of Duty Mobile has continued to rake in large amounts of money for the publisher thanks to its sheer popularity in Asian markets.

“Call of Duty net bookings on console and PC declined year-over-year in the fourth quarter, reflecting lower premium sales for Call of Duty: Vanguard versus the year ago title and lower engagement in Call of Duty: Warzone. Fourth quarter in-game player investment on console and PC remained well above the level seen prior to the March 2020 launch of Warzone,” the report says.

“Call of Duty Mobile net bookings grew year-over-year in the fourth quarter, driven by continued contribution from the game in China. For the full year, Call of Duty Mobile net bookings grew strongly, with 2021 worldwide consumer spending on the title exceeding $1 billion.”

The earnings report also confirmed that Infinity Ward will be handling development duties for the next instalment in this franchise, which is rumoured to be titled Modern Warfare 2 and will see players battling Columbian drug cartels- read more on that through here.

It’s been said that the upcoming game will be the franchise’s most ambitious entry and will target a wide demographic. Activision also confirms that Infinity Ward’s expansions have added more resources into the development of both new, unannounced games as well as live-service experiences in the Call of Duty universe. Infinity Ward also followed-up on the earnings report by confirming to fans about the next Call of Duty through Twitter.

“Development on this year’s premium and Warzone experiences is being led by Activision’s renowned Infinity Ward studio. The team is working on the most ambitious plan in franchise history, with industry-leading innovation and a broadly appealing franchise setting,” the report reads.

“Studio expansion has continued to add development resources worldwide as plans continue for ongoing live operations and new, unannounced titles in the Call of Duty universe.”

According to recent rumours, 2022’s Call of Duty will be titled Modern Warfare 2, and will see players fighting Columbian drug cartels in what is being described as a “grittier take on Modern Warfare 2019’s campaign.” The game will most likely be a cross-gen release, and will most certainly release on PlayStation platforms despite the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Additionally, the free-to-play Call of Duty: Warzone is also rumoured to receive a new map and a spin-off mode in 2022.

A new generation of Call of Duty is coming soon.

Stay frosty.

— Infinity Ward (@InfinityWard) February 3, 2022

Many have wondered whether the likes of Call of Duty will be going exclusive to Xbox platforms, and while we don’t have any definite answer yet, DFC Intelligence analyst David Cole believes it to not be the case. Cole says that making Call of Duty exclusive to the platform will most likely cause problems to get the deal past anti-trust regulatory bodies (since that way Microsoft could be deemed to be making an anti-competitive move by prohibiting access to Call of Duty on competitive platforms).

Speaking via GamesIndustry.biz, Cole said, “It should also be noted that on the console side Call of Duty is really the only big franchise from Activision. The big issue is if COD becomes a Microsoft exclusive. Right now, I don’t think [it will]. For one thing, it would be hard to get it past regulators if they want to lock the competition out.”

Reports have claimed that Microsoft plans to keep some of Activision’s content exclusive to their platforms, but if the company’s track record with the ZeniMax acquisition is anything to go by, one cannot be entirely certain about how things are handled once the deal is finalized.

We examined the potential impact of this acquisition in a recent editorial- read more on that through here.

Along with being the best-selling game on Xbox platforms, it also led sales among tracked PC titles. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl also performed well, ranking third and topping sales on Nintendo platforms for both the month and the entire year. Total dollar sales for the franchise’s physical software also hit the highest annual total since 2000.

It’s also worth noting Resident Evil Village which was the eighth best-selling game of 2021. The franchise also recorded a new all-time annual high in the US. Check out the full top 20 best-selling games in the US for December 2021:

1. Call of Duty: Vanguard
2. Halo Infinite
3. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
4. Madden NFL 22
5. Battlefield 2042
6. Mario Kart 8
7. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
8. Mario Party Superstars
9. NBA 2K22
10. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
11. FIFA 22
12. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
13. Minecraft
14. Far Cry 6
15. Just Dance 2022
16. Forza Horizon 5
17. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
18. Ghost of Tsushima
19. Super Mario 3D World
20. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

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