Activision Blizzard confirmed in the earnings report, the “Call of Duty 2023” development is progressing well, is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of this year (October-December).
Activision Blizzard says: “The team at Activision is working hard on a brand new chapter in the franchise, scheduled for release in Q4, which is well under development on PC and console platforms.”
Activision Blizzard also revealed that Call of Duty: Warzone Handheld is tightly integrated with the PC and console experiences, and is still in regional testing.
This year’s Call of Duty is reportedly a sequel to last year’s Modern Warfare 2, with development led by Sledgehammer Games studio. Activision Blizzard appeared to confirm the news earlier this week, with the company stating that Modern Warfare 2’s characters, weapons, and bundles will carry over to this year’s installment in the series. Modern Warfare 2’s maps and modes will also reportedly be ported to the new installment.
Activision Blizzard said on Tuesday that the first details about the first announcement event for this year’s games will be released in an announcement for Modern Warfare 2 and Season 5 of Battlezone 2, which is expected to go live in early August.
In its earnings report on Wednesday, the company said, “Call of Duty, which is approaching its 20th anniversary in October, currently reaches approximately 90 million players per month, with more than half of those players engaging on mobile platforms.” Activision Blizzard also claimed that global consumer spending on Call of Duty: Handheld has exceeded $3bn since its launch in October 2019 (currently around RMB 21.69bn).
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have signed an agreement to extend the deadline to complete the acquisition deal to 18 October. The companies are still seeking regulatory approval for the deal from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the last major hurdle preventing the deal from being completed.
