With Call of Duty: Vanguard not performing as well as expected, Activision Blizzard (which Microsoft may well take over if there won’t be any obstacles for Phil Spencer) might be looking for other ways to milk the wallets of the franchise’s fans.

An interesting situation is developing around Call of Duty. We’re not talking about this year’s release (Infinity Ward is reportedly working on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and a new Call of Duty: Warzone), but the fact that the annual release could stop as early as next year, so older instalments could get a new look and a new console/PC release, which we’ve already covered in more detail. But that’s just one side of the coin, as there are other monetisation opportunities around what is probably the world’s best-known shooter franchise.

Call of Duty’s CharlieIntel reported that Activision had posted a rather exciting job ad: in the influencer marketing manager post, which has since been filled, had this description: “2022 is a stellar opportunity for Call of Duty (CoD), with an extraordinary line up of innovations in curated player experiences, multi-platform gameplay, subscription-based content, mobile game development, and a move to the always-on community and player connectivity.” Subscription-based content…?!

It is why Beenox has opened a new studio in Montreal (they’ve previously worked on Warzone content, and we’re talking about the lead development team for the mobile Call of Duty), while CoD: Vanguard has launched a two-week free-to-play limited-content period from March 30 to April 13 with Season 2 content (Casablanca, Gondola maps; Arms Race mode), as that’s how far below par the latest instalment is…

So some subscription solution is in the works for Call of Duty, and the “always-on community” in the job description says that you’ll be expected to have a constant Internet connection so that there’s no chance of any piracy, which is all well and good, until the servers suddenly go down, which could make the game’s story mode inaccessible (and that shouldn’t require you to be online…). It does have its downsides, though.

Source: PSL