Call of Duty has evolved from yearly franchise to “always on” model, says Activision

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Activision Blizzard says its blockbuster Call of Duty franchise is no longer an annual contender, but part of an “always on” model. 

In announcing that all of its US-based QA testers would be converted to full-time employees, Activision Blizzard highlighted this viewpoint in its accompanying statement shared to GamesRadar.

“During the last two years, Call of Duty has expanded and evolved. Our development cycles have gone from an annual release to an ‘always on’ model,” the company wrote. “In response to greater engagement, we’ve increased our live services business across all platforms.”

This encompasses Call of Duty season pass content, new operators, and a host of additional content that’s always being made available in the in-game stores. While Call of Duty releases were once relegated to once-a-year events, it’s very much been transformed into a franchise that never stops pumping out content, hence the need for additional worker support. 

“During the last two years, Call of Duty has expanded and evolved. Our development cycles have gone from an annual release to an “always on” model. In response to greater engagement, we’ve increased our live services business across all platforms.”April 7, 2022

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The statement went on to note that it has “ambitious plans” for the future, including “exciting” plans for mobile. As a result, the team anticipates periods where the workload will continue to fluctuate. In those situations, the team will add extra support from internal partners as well.

In terms of being “always on”, there’s also the recent Activision Blizzard job listing mentioning something called “Call of Duty 2.0”, which mentions subscription-based content and “always on community and player connectivity”. The job language is vague, likely intentionally, but it does fall in line with what Activision Blizzard lined out in its letter to employees. 

“2022 is a stellar opportunity for Call of Duty, with an extraordinary line up of innovations in curated player experiences, multi-platform game play, subscription-based content, mobile game development, and a move to always on community and player connectivity,” the job listing reads. “We call this CoD 2.0.” 

There isn’t much information about what to expect from this new vision of “always on” Call of Duty, but it’s clear that a number of changes are likely on their way. 

Need another shooter to tide you over until the next Call of Duty debuts? Check out the 25 best shooters to play right now.