Call of Duty to launch new sub-franchise in 2027 after tough year
Call of Duty will start fresh in 2027 with a new branch outside Black Ops and Modern Warfare.
Activision has said the next main game will open a new sub-franchise, a separate storyline with its own characters and setting, and that early groundwork has already been laid. Dexerto reports the 2027 title will not carry either of the familiar names.
The plan follows four yearly releases in a row. Activision released Modern Warfare 2 in 2022 and Modern Warfare 3 in 2023, followed by Black Ops 6 in 2024 and Black Ops 7 in 2025. The run kept the series in front of players. The numbers were stark.
In Europe, the launch of Black Ops 7 came in 50% below the previous year's Call of Duty title. In the United States, it finished the year at No.5, the lowest year-end placing for the series since World at War, released in 2008. Battlefield 6, a rival first-person shooter played from the soldier's point of view, finished 2025 as the best-selling shooter and ended a run at the top for Call of Duty stretching back to the mid-2000s, according to The Game Business.
Players drifted too. Monthly player counts, the number of people logging in at least once a month, sat routinely around 40 million in 2024 before falling to the mid-20 million range in 2026, figures credited to tracker Ampere. That count climbed back to near 40 million after PlayStation versions of Black Ops, released in 2010, and Black Ops 2, released in 2012, gave long-time fans a reason to return. The bounce suggests nostalgia still pulls weight alongside new releases.
Chief marketing officer Tyler Bahl said Activision was not happy with every aspect of last year's game. He said the team heard fan feedback loud and clear. He did not detail fixes, only the direction of travel.
For fans, this means a clean break rather than another sequel. A new branch brings new maps, weapons and lore to learn, without starting the large online community from zero. If it lands, Activision keeps its yearly rhythm while giving players somewhere different to go.
