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An industry insider has claimed that Activision may opt to release Call of Duty 2022, which is believed to be a sequel to 2019's Modern Warfare, earlier than typically expected, possibly due to poor sales of Call of Duty: Vanguard. Each game in the Call of Duty franchise has reliably released every year in early November for most of its 18-year history. Although a couple of titles have strayed into October, the November release window has consistently worked for the franchise as it releases just prior to Black Friday and is poised to dominate the holiday season.
There has been no shortage of rumors surrounding Call of Duty 2022, starting even before the release of 2021's Call of Duty: Vanguard. The new entry will reportedly follow Task Force 141 in an effort to up-end Columbian drug cartels, shifting away from the global catastrophes of the original series. While the original trilogy dealt with a war-torn America, nukes, and political chaos, it seems like this new rumored take on the Modern Warfare series will rein things in. Activision nor developer Infinity Ward have officially announced the next title, but it likely won't be too long until fans hear more.
Taking to Twitter, leaker Tom Henderson has claimed that, as per usual, Call of Duty 2022 will be revealed this summer, while also suggesting it could have an earlier release than expected. Following Call of Duty: Vanguard's poor sales, the leaker claims that Activision could release the game in October instead of the typically-expected November. To tie it all together, Activision is reportedly also planning a big update for Warzone after Call of Duty 2022 releases. It's unclear if this will be another new map or if it'll be something else altogether.
The disappointing sales of CoD: Vanguard might well be a relevant reason as to why the next title in the series could come early, as it could help win back those disappointed in the game. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 was released in October 2018 and was the first game in the series to not release in November since Call of Duty 2 in 2005. This was done seemingly to avoid conflict with Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2, which was released a few weeks later. Activision doubled down on October once again in 2019 with Modern Warfare, but it's not completely clear as to why the publisher went this route.
There are currently many players angry with CoD in part due to the latest release's performance, bugs, and glitches, so Activision will likely need to find a way to get fans back. Perhaps Infinity Ward's return to the beloved sub-franchise will be enough to win people over, but maybe not. There are a plethora of issues across multiple Call of Duty titles right now and the arguably rushed release of Vanguard didn't instill hope in those that had already doubted the series was still going strong. Whether Call of Duty 2022 can turn the tides remains to be seen, but if Henderson is correct, it seems like Activision could be changing its strategies to try and make it work.
Source: Tom Henderson/Twitter