Editor’s Note: A lawsuit has been filed against Activision Blizzard by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which alleges the company has engaged in abuse, discrimination, and retaliation against its female employees. Activision Blizzard has denied the allegations. The full details of the Activision Blizzard lawsuit (content warning: rape, suicide, abuse, harassment) are being updated as new information becomes available.
World War II is Call of Duty’s most visited time period dating back to the first game’s release in 2003, but according to Activision Blizzard, Call of Duty: Vanguard’s poor sales are largely due to this setting. After launching in 2021, Call of Duty: Vanguard didn’t sell particularly well when compared to other games in the franchise.
Following Call of Duty: Vanguard's poor sales and mediocre critical reception. However, Activision Blizzard has publicly praised the next campaign in the series, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. The Modern Warfare series went down as some of the best Call of Duty games to ever hit store shelves, and in 2019, a remake of the first game received a decent amount of praise while earning more than $1 billion in revenue before the end of the year. If these promises are delivered upon, the series could be bound for a significant return to critical acclaim.
Based on recent statements, it may be possible that the series doesn’t return to its classic World War II setting for some time following the underperformance of Call of Duty: Vanguard. According to Activision Blizzard’s 2021 annual report (via Kotaku), the company believes that Vanguard's WWII setting didn't resonate with many players, leading to it selling worse than expected. Activision Blizzard also stated that Call of Duty: Vanguard wasn’t as innovative as the company would have liked. Both of these are supposedly being addressed in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. A recent Modern Warefare II teaser just surfaced after the approval of Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buyout, and both companies can expect a decent bounce back for Call of Duty with this remake of arguably the most beloved game in the series.
The acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft comes at a strange time following the Call of Duty publisher’s worst year in quite some time both in terms of revenue and player satisfaction. The player count for both Call of Duty and the battle royale spin-off version Warzone has been declining recently amid player complaints about balance issues as well as issues with hackers and cheaters.
The gaming community is expected to get its hands on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II soon, and Activision Blizzard is hoping to recapture some magic when it does. As for the future of World War II games in the Call of Duty franchise it now appears that the focus will be on modern settings. Unfortunately, the lack of success that Call of Duty: Vanguard experienced is likely important to take into account when Activision Blizzard is planning future projects.
Source: Activision Blizzard, Kotaku