Call of Duty is still a giant, make no mistake about it, but it’s not the all-encompassing giant it once was.
Last year’s disappointing Black Ops 7 was outsold by Battlefield 6, and while it’s steadily climbed the sales charts these past few months, it’ll be forced to go head-to-head with GTA 6 this Christmas.
Exactly how dev Infinity Ward’s going to overcome Rockstar’s unstoppable open world remains to be seen, but it’s starting with a letter from new studio heads, Mark Grigsby and Jack O’Hara.
Both are veterans of the Activision subsidiary, although Grigsby was part of the Respawn Entertainment exodus in 2010. He rejoined two years later.
In a letter signed by the two executives, they say “we’re proud of what we’ve been building”. Presumably, the new game will be announced during the Xbox Showcase, on 7th June.
Here’s its statement in full:
“We are Infinity Ward.
We build visceral, immersive combat experiences that hit different.
As a new chapter begins for this studio, we’re focused on what defines us: passion, precision, obsession, and an unrelenting drive to make the best entertainment in the industry.
Our next game is the result of that mindset.
Determined. Bold. Relentless. Built by a team pushing every detail, every system, every moment to its limit.
On behalf of everyone at IW, we’re proud of what we’ve been building and excited to finally start sharing it with you.”
In my opinion, Call of Duty has lost a lot of its sheen over the past five or so years – but that’s what happens when you annualise a franchise and release it over and over again.
Of course, there’ll always be a massive audience for the FPS franchise, and I do hope Infinity Ward can recapture some of that magic from years past.
It’ll be interesting to see how it approaches this year’s game; even its release date is going to be fascinating, because it’s going to want to get as far away from GTA 6 as it possibly can.
This letter looks like the first phase in its announcement plan, so I imagine it’ll really start to step up its marketing over the coming days.
