A statement released by Call of Duty publisher Activision acknowledges that Black Ops 7 hasn't lived up to the standard this franchise holds itself to. There's a lot going on here, so let's unpack it:
A message from the Call of Duty team.
First off, thank you for all for the feedback we have received over the last few months. Call of Duty has enjoyed long-standing success because of all of you, a passionate community that demands excellence and deserves nothing less. We also know that for some of you, the Franchise has not met your expectations fully. To be very clear, we know what you expect and rest assured we will deliver, and overdeliver, on those expectations as we move forward.
With respect to Black Ops 7, we set our sights to deliver a spiritual successor to Black Ops 2 and the studios have poured their passion into making a great game that all of us are very proud of. But it’s one thing for us to say it, more importantly it’s up to you to try it and judge for yourselves. So as it relates to Black Ops 7 and the future of Call of Duty, here are a few important notes.
1. You’ll Have the Opportunity to Play Black Ops 7 for Free
Next week, we are opening the doors for everyone to jump in and play Black Ops 7 Multiplayer and Zombies for a free trial along with a Double XP weekend. We would like you to experience the game firsthand and decide for yourselves.
2. We Are Committed to Unprecedented Seasonal Support
Your continuing feedback will help shape our seasonal updates over the coming months. Season 01 is the largest live season ever and we’re just getting started. We won’t rest until Black Ops 7 earns its place as one of the best Black Ops games we’ve ever made.
3. Our Strategy Going Forward Is Changing
- We will no longer do back-to-back releases of Modern Warfare or Black Ops games. The reasons are many, but the main one is to ensure we provide an absolutely unique experience each and every year.
- We will drive innovation that is meaningful, not incremental. While we aren’t sharing those plans today, we look forward to doing so when the time is right.
To be clear, the future of Call of Duty is very strong and we believe our best days are ahead of us, given the depth and talent of our development teams. We have been building the next era of Call of Duty, and it will deliver precisely on what you want, along with some surprises that push the Franchise and the genre forward. We look forward to welcoming you in, listening to you, and moving forward together.
Major General Brian Allen's Thoughts
I was never in favor of back-to-back Black Ops releases. COD has a hard task here. Applying the Madden NFL release standard to simulations of war is already a situation fraught with problems. We've all run back and forth on the battlefields of Vietnam, Germany, and Afghanistan more times than we can count. The battlefields of the "not too distant future" allow developers to come up with their own takes on warfare and so far the results haven't been great. Battlefield 2042 went through similar issues and while it has improved itself through a series of updates, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
The good news for Activision is that they will still sell millions of copies of this game. The good news for those millions of players is that "unprecedented support" is coming. That's the right thing to do, morally and financially. You want everybody currently enjoying this game to keep enjoying it. That's the best recipe to make sure those players come back next year, and the year after that.
A lot of players (and their respective playgroups) play COD. It's their main game; they ride the ups and downs annually. It will take more than one misfire for them to leave the fold. The decision to make Endgame playable for everyone was absolutely the right call, as it is the best-reviewed part of the title this year.
Unfortunately, the timing for Black Ops 7 to disappoint could not have been worse. Battlefield 6 has come charging out of the gate with 7 million sales in its first three days, becoming the bestselling game of 2025 after just one month. EA's military shooter hasn't been this good in years. The real winners here are gamers who have longed for this level of competition in the space.