Activision Blizzard is currently wrapped up in a lawsuit over its corporate culture and sexual misconduct allegations; yet, the company is still pushing forward with new game releases. One of these is a big one: the next Call of Duty game from Sledgehammer Games. As part of Activision Blizzard’s earnings report on Tuesday, management confirmed this game is arriving in the fourth quarter.
“Our teams remain hard at work on the next new premium Call of Duty release, planned for the fourth quarter,” Activision said. “From a setting that our fans know and love, to an incredible amount of content in development including an extensive live ops schedule, we believe this release will be incredibly well-received. In addition to launching a great seamless experience for both current and next-gen console players, we are focused on continuing to integrate Warzone and engage our direct relationship with our player base for even deeper content integration between the premium and free experiences and substantial innovation within Warzone itself. Our teams cannot wait to unveil what they have been working on.”
Later on in the presentation, the studio stated that it has “never been bigger or stronger” and confirmed this year’s Call of Duty release would include a campaign, co-op, and multiplayer.
Sledgehammer developed 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII, and has contributed to the ongoing development of Call of Duty: Warzone. The studio’s new entry is said to be another WWII-themed title, which will also integrate with Warzone. It’s possible the game could even be partially revealed in the battle royale.
Sledgehammer was confirmed as the the developer for 2021’s Call of Duty game back in May, and at that time, management said the game was “built for next-gen.” Given the scarcity of the next-gen consoles, it’s unlikely they will be exclusive to them, but will definitely be catered more towards those users.
