Activision has released a new Call of Duty game every year since 2005, and that streak will continue in 2024 with the next entry in the main series. But 2024’s Call of Duty game will be the most notable in years. That’s because it’s the first new entry since Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard and the Call of Duty franchise in October 2023.
What does this mean for 2024’s Call of Duty game? We don’t know yet, as the game hasn’t even been officially announced yet. But we do know this year’s game, whatever it turns out to be, will come to both Xbox and PlayStation consoles, as part of a multi-year agreement. Microsoft has also discussed the possibility of bringing Call of Duty games to Switch.
2024’s Call of Duty game is believed to be the next entry in the Black Ops series, and its story could take place in part during the Gulf War. It’s expected the game will connect with Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile, as those games share progression.
Here’s everything we know so far about CoD 2024. We will continue to update this story as new information comes to light.
Activision historically launches new Call of Duty games in October or November, and that trend is expected to continue this year. The game is expected to be shown off and discussed following the Xbox Games Showcase on June 9 with its own dedicated video broadcast. Imagery from the announcement of this event suggests the game will be a new entry in the Black Ops franchise. This was backed up by a report from Insider Gaming, which also mentioned an October release.
This year’s Call of Duty game is expected to release on Xbox and PlayStation consoles, in addition to PC. Microsoft now owns Activision, the Call of Duty franchise, and all of its developers, but the company is not planning to make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox. Instead, Microsoft and Sony inked a 10-year deal to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation beyond 2030. Microsoft has also discussed bringing Call of Duty to Switch and has made a deal with Nintendo to potentially do this. But it remains to be seen how the Call of Duty franchise could appear on Switch and what trade-offs the Switch version could have compared to the other console platforms given the relatively lower specs of the Switch. Switch 2 is on the horizon and may release by March 2024, though it’s unclear if the new CoD would appear on that system, either.
A major question that remains unanswered regarding CoD 2024 is whether or not it will launch day-and-date on Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft has said that one of the biggest perks of Game Pass is getting access to all first-party games at launch as part of their subscription, so fans are no doubt expecting to be able to play this year’s Call of Duty game at launch on Game Pass. Microsoft, however, has not come forward to confirm this explicitly.
Recently, Xbox president Sarah Bond reiterated that games from “across the whole slate” of Microsoft’s first-party teams will come to Game Pass, though she did not mention Activision or Call of Duty by name. Microsoft is reportedly having internal debates currently about bringing Call of Duty to Game Pass.
Some industry observers have theorized that Microsoft could miss out on serious money if it puts Call of Duty on Game Pass. Others have posited that having Call of Duty on Game Pass could help drive Game Pass subscriptions and make Xbox a more desirable platform on which to play Call of Duty.
This year’s new Call of Duty game is rumored to be the next entry in the Black Ops series, with a story that takes place, at least in part, during the Gulf War. Call of Duty games are known to be globetrotting affairs that travel through numerous locations–and time periods. So if the Gulf War is part of the game’s story, it could be just one element of it. Rumors have suggested the new game has been in the works for a long time and will be the first game in franchise history to have been developed over a four-year period. This lies in stark contrast to 2023’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, which was reportedly made in just 18 months.
If this year’s game is indeed a Black Ops title, it will be the sixth entry in the series since it debuted in 2010. The Black Ops franchise within Call of Duty has become one of the most popular of all, and lucrative, too. Dave Anthony, the director of the first two Black Ops games, recently discussed how he made “incredible amounts of money” during his career.
In terms of returning characters, it’s rumored that Adler is coming back, but that’s all we know so far. The Black Ops series is known for featuring real-life people, like Ronald Reagan (Black Ops Cold War) and Robert McNamara (Black Ops 1), so it wouldn’t be surprising to see real-life military and political leaders from the Gulf War era appear in the new game.
A report from Insider Gaming said Raven Software is developing the game’s campaign, with Treyarch–the creator of the Black Ops series–handling multiplayer and Zombies. Activision is known to recruit teams from across its entire network of Call of Duty studios to contribute to each year’s new release in some fashion, and that formula is expected to continue this year.
This year’s game hasn’t been announced yet, so there are only rumors to go on for now. But Insider Gaming reported that this year’s Call of Duty game will bring back the open-world-style missions from Modern Warfare III. These were not very well-received in that game, but the report said a key difference is that the new game was made “from the ground up” with these missions in mind.
The report said players and their squads will move through a map that is “more akin to that of Far Cry,” and that players can jump into vehicles to zip around and even use a fast-travel system to get around quickly. In addition to open-world-style missions, the new Black Ops game will also have the more traditional and linear missions that Call of Duty is known for, the report said.
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