This Year's Call Of Duty Game Includes A Campaign, Activision Confirms

As part of Activision Blizzard's earnings report, the company announced that a new Call of Duty game is coming out in 2019. It also confirmed the return of a key feature absent from last year's entry. [Update: The campaign was the focus of the reveal of 2019's Call of Duty, Modern Warfare. This is a reboot of the sub-series that attempts for a more realistic, gritty take on CoD. On the multiplayer side, it will offer cross-play and no season pass.]

Activision management offered some very high-level insight on the game, saying it will appeal to veterans and newcomers alike. The company added that the game is a "great step forward" for the franchise, going on to say that it's rooted in Call of Duty's history, which suggests it will be a sequel to an existing sub-brand.

Also during the call, Activision management confirmed the new Call of Duty will feature some kind of campaign, which is notable because Black Ops 4 did away with a traditional campaign. Whether or not the new Call of Duty returns to the traditional campaign remains to be seen, however. Whatever the case, Activision also confirmed the new game will have a "huge expansive multiplayer world," as well as "fun co-op gameplay." More details are expected in the coming months.

Johnson said Activision has "high expectations" for the game, though it's predicting that sales of the mysterious game will be lower than 2018's Black Ops 4. The Black Ops franchise is historically the best-performing Call of Duty sub-brand, so a year-over-year downturn in sales is expected.

2019's Call of Duty is rumored to be Modern Warfare 4 from Infinity Ward. The series is on a three-year, three-studio development schedule, so 2019's title is expected to come from Infinity Ward, the studio that created the Modern Warfare series.

As for Activision's earnings report, the biggest news was Activision laying off around 800 employees, or about eight percent of its workforce. The job losses will affect teams at Blizzard, Activision, and King, in a number of non-game-development roles.