During their fourth quarter 2016 earnings call, Activision revealed the next entry in the Call of Duty franchise will stray from their recent sci-fi focused trend, saying “traditional combat will once again take center stage.”
In recent years, the Call of Duty games have shifted more toward a sci-fi slanted shooter, giving players futuristic gadgets, rocket jumps, and weapons unlike anything in the world today. The series has also declined in sales as they shifted away from the modern and past-settings of the games, while its primary competitor, Battlefield 1, went all the way back to World War 1 and actually out-sold Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.
The publisher also spoke about the most recent game, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, which sold less than half of the previous entry in the series, Call of Duty: Black Ops III (10.7 Million units sold to 26 million units sold, respectively), saying the “space setting didn’t resonate” with players and that it “wasn’t the success we planned.”
Sledgehammer Games is reportedly developing the next game, having previously brought us Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which remains the highest selling entry in the franchise.
