New Call of Duty Confirmed for 2016, Coming From Infinity Ward
Here it comes.
While it may not be much of a surprise, Activision today officially announced that a new Call of Duty game will launch this holiday. The game, as suspected, will be developed by Infinity Ward, the creators of the uber-popular Modern Warfare series.
Infinity Ward's new Call of Duty game was described by Activision as "innovative," though no concrete details about the game have been divulged. It will be the studio's first new game since 2013's Call of Duty: Ghosts, which was the first entry in the blockbuster series for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
The Call of Duty series is on a three-year, three studio development cycle. 2015's game, Black Ops III, was developed by Treyarch, while Sledgehammer Games made 2014's Advanced Warfare.
Infinity's Ward's 2016 Call of Duty game is not expected to make as much money as Black Ops III, Activision said during an earnings call. However, revenue from the overall Call of Duty franchise is expected to be up year-over-year due in part to downloadable content offerings for Black Ops III.
It was also confirmed today that a new Skylanders game will launch this year, though no other details on the game were made available.
Additionally, Activision said two of its big holiday quarter games, Guitar Hero Live and Skylanders SuperChargers, "performed weaker than expected." The publisher said the downturn for SuperChargers was largely the result of "greater competition" in the toys-to-life genre, presumably referencing Disney Infinity, Lego Dimensions, and Nintendo's Amiibo. Activision also said SuperChargers and Guitar Hero Live struggled as a result of "the casual audience's shift to mobile devices."
Infinity Ward's new Call of Duty game was announced today as part of Activision Blizzard's earnings report for the fourth quarter and full year. For the full year, Activision Blizzard pulled in $4.62 billion in revenue, compared to $4.81 billion during calendar year 2014.
For the quarter, net revenue was $2.12 billion, down from $2.21 billion during the same period last year. Revenue from digital content was $780 million, a new record. Additionally, for the quarter, net revenue from digital content made up a fourth quarter record of 37 percent, jumping 14 percent year over-year.
Activision is currently holding an earnings call where more information may be discussed. We'll update this post if new information is made available.
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