Call of Duty Games: Yearly, Three Studio Rotation

Activision has a new strategy for development of new Call of Duty games. They still want the series to release a new title every year, but they also have decided that each new game should have about three years of development time, to make sure they are the best, most complete experiences they can be.

Therefore, they will have three studios working on developing Call of Duty games. Each will have its own game to develop, and their three-year cycles will be timed so that one is ready each year. Infinity Ward and Treyarch, the two major Call of Duty developers, have now been joined by Sledgehammer Games. The last game Sledgehammer worked on was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, so they sound like a good choice.

A move like this might make some fans nervous, but the principle behind it is sound. One of the most common concerns we’ve heard about games with annual releases is that they’re rushed and diminish in quality as a result. Giving three years of development time to each game should minimize and improve the series as a whole.

Some players feel they should just stop producing yearly Call of Duty games, but with the success and popularity of that franchise, we aren’t surprised Activision is trying a different solution.