Activision says Warzone will play prominent role in next Call of Duty launch

By Don Reisinger August 5, 2020

Activision has confirmed that it has a new entrant in the Call of Duty franchise planned for this year. But it may announce the new game in a decidedly different way.

Speaking to investors on an earnings call on Tuesday, August 4, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick suggested the company may ultimately unveil the next Call of Duty game, believed to be known as Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, inside its free-to-play Call of Duty: Warzone environment.

“To your initial point that you’re talking about why you were waiting for such a long time … it’s Warzone I think that’s caused us to rethink how, when, and even where we reveal our upcoming title,” Kotick said in response to an analyst question on why Activision hasn’t announced its new Call of Duty game yet. “We can’t wait to share it with the community, and we think it’s going to be very different and more engaging than anything that we’ve ever done before.”

Kotick spent considerable time talking about Warzone and its impact on the company during the earnings call. He said the title has attracted more than 75 million players since the game launched in March and has been a “great platform” for promoting Activision initiatives.

“Starting with marketing, it’s definitely had an impact there and how we think about marketing in this new world,” Kotick said.

Activision’s President Rob Kostich also chimed in on Warzone’s importance to both Activision’s broader business and the Call of Duty franchise, saying he expects Warzone to factory heavily in the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War title.

“There will be a very tight integration between the two,” Kostich said of Warzone and Black Ops. “Modern Warfare and Warzone are obviously very tightly connected, and I think that’s really important for the player base.”

Despite all their talk about the next Call of Duty game and how it will be integrated with Warzone, Activision’s executives stopped short of announcing a launch date, official name, or game details. But with all signs pointing to a late-2020 launch on both current- and next-generation hardware, it may not be long before Activision unveils what it has planned for its next installment.

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Don Reisinger is a freelance technology, video game, and entertainment journalist. He has been writing about the world of…

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