It hasn’t exactly been a well-kept secret that this year’sCall of Dutyentry has had a troublesome development. Ever since the middle of last year, reports on 2020’s entry in the shooter franchise have cited some serious issues and delays for the game. It eventually lead to Treyarch taking over development of the game, which was originally Sledgehammer Games' pursuit and year, despite the fact that the Treyarch studio was likely already developing its ownCall of Dutygame for 2021.
This begs the question of what will happen to Raven Software and Sledgehammer Games’Call of Dutytitle? Both were collaborating and taking charge ofCall of Duty 2020prior to Treyarch intervening and spearheading development. Some initial reports stated that both studios' assets will be repurposed into Treyarch’s development, but there’s been no word on a cancellation or the status of Sledgehammer Games or Raven Software at the moment.
Development Troubles
Topreserve the annual release schedule forCall of Dutygamesthat fans are used to, the franchise is dispersed between three key developers: Infinity Ward (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, 2019), Treyarch (Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, 2018) and Sledgehammer Games (Call of Duty: WWII, 2017). Each is tasked with a three-year development cycle for the studio’s respective entry, allowing for time to fully develop the game to coincide with the annual release. This development structure has been in use by Activision and the franchise since 2012, but a report in May 2019 seemingly confirmed this would no longer be the case.
Based on older reports, there was a significant shift inCall of Duty’s development structure for 2020. This year’s entry, which was being helmed by Sledgehammer Games as well as Raven Software, changed leadership andplaced Treyarch in charge of development for 2020’sCall of Dutyinstead. Various reasons were stated as to why, but nothing was ever confirmed as to why this change took place. There were some reports of in-fighting between the Sledgehammer and Raven studios, consistently arguing over development problems that exacerbated development issues further. There were also rumors that this change was made in direct response toBlack Ops 4not meeting expectations for publisher Activision, and thus wanted to double down on Treyarch.
It’s worth highlighting that the why may be fully unknown, but the what is simple: Sledgehammer Games is not working on theCall of Dutythat releases this year.
Treyarch Takes the Wheel
Now in 2020, Treyarch has allegedly borrowed all available assets from the Sledgehammer and Raven development studios. Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software have been relegated to support roles forCall of Duty 2020’s development, while Treyarch helms the main development of the game. It’s not a far cry to assumeBlack Ops 5, or some iteration of aBlack Opstitle, was initially planned for 2021 until Treyarch needed to intervene on the Sledgehammer/Raven project. That means whatever work done from all three studios needs to be melded together for the campaign, multiplayer, and whatever cooperative mode ships with the game (if any).
This likely factors into the reason why the game hasn’t been revealed yet either. TypicallyCall of Dutyannual releases are initially teased/unveiled in the middle of the year, around the April to June timeframe. May and June have now gone by without aCall of Dutyreveal.Rumors statedCall of Dutywould see its reveal during the PS5 event, but soon after PlayStation’s PS5 reveal, several industry insiders stated that the reveal had been delayed further into the year. Some reports even stated a tentative August reveal date. With the reveal reportedly being delayed, that of course lent credibility to the idea thatCall of Duty 2020would be delayed from this holiday into 2021. While certainly strange for the franchise, the development troubles exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic is a strange time for everyone.
RELATED:Four New Call of Duty Games Are Rumored to Be in Development, Including MW2 Remastered
The State of Call of Duty in 2020
As of right now, it’s a very uncertain time for the iconic shooter franchise. Rumors and leaks continue to release in droves on the internet, with some corroboration here and there discerning that, at bare minimum,Call of Duty 2020’s development is in trouble. How much of Sledgehammer Games/Raven Software’s work on 2020’sCall of Dutywas preserved? How much did Treyarch need to scrap or start over from scratch? Assuming this year’s entry will be aBlack Opstitle,will Sledgehammer Games and/or Raven Software ever helm a mainlineCall of Dutyreleaseagain? There’s a lot of curiosities involving this year’sCall of Dutyrelease, many of which will not likely be answered soon.
This also brings into question how this studio restructuring will affect theCall of Dutytitle that was planned for 2021 as well. Even ifCall of Duty 2020comes out this holiday, and isn’t delayed into 2021, the next annual release will likely need to follow suit. All of a sudden a rippling domino effect will significantly change the production schedule the franchise has religiously stuck to for the last eight years. This severe reduction of development time produces two negative outcomes: eitherCall of Dutygames in the near future are delayed, or they release on time with several issues and severe developer crunch. Either way, things aren’t looking good forCall of Dutyat the moment.
Of course, amidst all of this, Activision and theCall of Dutydevelopment studios continue to remain silent about all of this. Given all of the consistent leaks and reports pointing to development trouble, it’s hard not to assume the franchise is in a tough spot. Hopefully things are not as they seem, but for now the near future of theCall of Dutyfranchise is uncertain.Modern Warfare, at the same time, is going as strong as ever.
