Activision stands behind Call of Duty’s annual release schedule

In an interview with gamesindustry.biz, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg spills the beans on the Call of Duty series, standing behind the yearly release cycle for the series. Comparing it to the releases of Destiny and Destiny 2, Hirshberg said, ‘What we’ve found is that there is more than one good way to do it.’

Expanding on the idea of CoD’s ‘persistence’, Hirshberg said ‘Call of Duty is less of a persistent platform as it is a persistent ethos. It is a game that makes you feel a certain way, and has certain expectations around core mechanics, tone and manner’ and that, despite the challenge presented by yearly releases splitting their player base, as long as people are playing a CoD game, Activision is happy.

Hirshberg also discussed Call of Duty WWII and the far more positive response following its initial reveal, ‘Those pendulums always swing, and so the reception of (WWII) I think, fire and foremost, is because it looks great, but also, clearly, it is the right game at the right time’. It’s clear to see that Activision are going into the release of this years iteration of Call of Duty with far more confidence than last year. 

Call of Duty WWII, is being developed by Sledgehammer games. It is due for a worldwide release on November 3, 2017.