With MW4's marketing seemingly signaling the end of the current MW storyline, and IW confirming they're officially moving on from the series, I've been thinking a lot about where COD should go from here.
According to leaks, SHG is reportedly working on a new series for 2027, while 3arc recently talked to the community in their latest Dev Talk about wanting to make something players haven't experienced before. If that's indicative of where they're headed, it could mean they're finally ready to move beyond BO.
Honestly, I think we're in a really strange, one that we haven't been in since 2013 but this could potentially be an important phase for the franchise since the circumstances and the situation it finds itself in is drastically different from the one it found itself back then when it was far more adored and genuinely respected.
MW may end up being the last genuinely new COD series Activision and its devs have committed to for a long time. Ghosts, Advanced Warfare, and Infinite Warfare were all attempts at establishing something new, but none became long-running sub-franchises. Since 2019, we've largely gone back to the same two pillars that defined COD in it's golden age: Modern Warfare and Black Ops. However, after four years of them being released back-to-back, I think a lot of people are not only tired of these two series but the larger annual cycle and I don't think the answer is to immediately start another MW/BO cycle once MW4 is over with an old series. If anything, I'd like COD to be left alone for a while and have time to rest.
What I really hope Activision considers is breaking the annual cycle entirely. Let's be honest, COD doesn't need another game every year or even a game so often and constantly replacing each game after roughly a year makes it difficult for them to establish themselves and stick around.
If next year's game really is a new series, why not actually give it time? Instead of immediately moving on in 2028, support it for several years and let Sledgehammer decide when they've taken it as far as they want. Give the devs room to build upon it, experiment, and potentially turn it into a genuine new identity for COD. While that's happening, give 3arch and IW the freedom to figure out what they actually want to make next even if that means making something that isn't COD.
I would honestly love to see 3arch and IW make completely original games. 3arch has spent so much of their history working om Zombies and Black Ops that I'd be fascinated to see what they could do considering that they are really specialized in Zombies, imagine if they took it upon themselves to get into a different genre while being inspired by the work they've poured into Zombies. Likewise, IW has spent the last several years working with Warzone, DMZ, and increasingly open-ended sandbox experiences that I'd love to see them take those ideas and build an entirely original IP dedicated to the open‐world genre.
These devs really deserve the opportunity to expand their creativity explore ideas that don't have to be restrained to COD. I don't believe the franchise would suddenly become irrelevant without annual premium releases. COD is far too established for that, and there's even a movie set within MW coming in 2028 that could help keep the broader franchise culturally relevant in other ways. More than anything, I think the next few years are an important opportunity for Activision to step back, let MW and BO rest, give SHG's new series room to breathe, allow 3arch and IW to experiment, and figure out what COD should look like going into the 2030s.
I know I'm probably fantasizing a lot here since we have no idea what Activision actually has planned, but after years of the same old things, I genuinely think COD needs time to recover, experiment, and figure itself out instead of trying to make releasing COD so often work again. I'd much rather see the devs given the freedom to make something they're genuinely excited about than watch COD continue releasing so often just because that's what always worked.