Activision has finally admitted what anyone with eyes and a functioning internet connection already knew. Call of Duty is getting a brand new sub-franchise because Black Ops and Modern Warfare have been running on fumes. Did anyone actually ask for another Modern Warfare reboot after the last one became the lowest-rated entry in franchise history?
New Sub-Franchise Finally Confirmed
Tyler Bahl, Activision’s chief marketing officer, spilled the beans during an interview with The Game Business. He said a future Call of Duty title will launch under a completely new banner, separate from the two pillars that have carried the series since the original Black Ops reboot.
Bahl confirmed the company has already laid the groundwork for this new sub-franchise and that it will represent a long-term branch rather than a one-off experiment. The last time Call of Duty tried a non-Black Ops, non-Modern Warfare game was 2021’s Vanguard, which exists.
Fans Apparently Want Something Different
The reasoning behind this pivot is simple enough. Bahl told The Game Business that players wanted a “tonal shift” and something fresh, even though the series kept switching time periods and adding features. He acknowledged the landscape is changing and that new games are being built overnight. I find this hilarious because Call of Duty has been the gaming equivalent of a gas station hot dog for a decade now. It gets the job done, but you never feel good about it afterward.
Black Ops Seven Did Not Go Well
The numbers paint a brutal picture. Black Ops 7 currently sits at a 68 Metascore and a 1.7 user score on Metacritic, which is somehow worse than the score I gave my last relationship. The game also got review-bombed on Xbox Game Pass with a flood of one-star ratings, which is a special kind of failure when people are playing it for free and still want their money back. For context, Modern Warfare 3 currently holds a 2.3 user score on Metacritic, meaning the bar was already underground and Black Ops 7 still managed to trip over it.
Purchase Intent Is Tanking
Circana data shows purchase intent for Modern Warfare 4 sitting at just 15% among US console and PC players as of August 2026. Last year, Black Ops 7 was at 21% during the same period. That is a 6-point drop, which in Call of Duty terms is roughly the equivalent of losing the entire population of Wyoming. Activision reportedly blamed Game Pass inclusion for disappointing performance last year, which is a bold strategy when your game gets a 1.7 user score.
Even Battlefield Is Laughing Now
Call of Duty’s Steam player count hit a franchise low in early January 2026. The launcher, which bundles Black Ops 7, Black Ops 6, Warzone, and the Modern Warfare games, dropped to a peak of just 39,015 concurrent players on January 8.
That same week, the 24-hour peak barely scraped past 53,000, and this was after holiday discounts and a free week promotion. Battlefield 6 outperformed Call of Duty by nearly 50,000 players during the holiday period on Steam alone. I want to feel bad, but then I remember paying sixty dollars for Modern Warfare 3’s campaign and the sympathy evaporates.
The Call Of Duty Tax Excuse
Bahl also floated the idea of a “Call of Duty tax” from gaming media, suggesting the press does not cover the series fairly anymore. He pointed out that 4,500 employees work on the franchise and it has sold 500 million units overall.
That is genuinely impressive. It is also completely irrelevant to whether the last few games were good. McDonald’s has sold billions of burgers too, and nobody is writing think pieces about the artistic merit of a McDouble.
What Comes Next For The Franchise
Modern Warfare 4 launches October 23 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC. Bahl confirmed it will conclude the story that Infinity Ward has been telling since 2019, but also suggested the universe could continue with certain characters.
After that, the new sub-franchise takes over, though nobody knows what it looks like or who is making it. Sledgehammer Games is rumored to be handling it, and if that pans out, it would be the studio’s first original Call of Duty branch since Vanguard.
My Take On This Whole Mess
I have been playing Call of Duty since the original Modern Warfare in 2007. I have watched this series become the gaming equivalent of a Marvel movie franchise, churning out annual entries with diminishing returns and increasing cynicism.
The fact that it took a 1.7 user score and losing to Battlefield 6 for Activision to finally try something new is genuinely embarrassing. The new sub-franchise could be great. It could also be another tactical shooter with a six-hour campaign and a battle royale mode duct-taped on. My money is on the latter, but I would love to be wrong. Call of Duty needs to remember why people fell in love with it in the first place.
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