Despite rumors of a possible delay and despite confusion caused by the Coronavirus crisis, Activision has stated that the next major Call of Duty is still on track. In the most recent investor call, the publisher says that Call of Duty 2020 will still launch this year.
Recent rumors have pointed to Call of Duty 2020 being delayed. A new COD not being available in October or November would be a shock to the gaming world, as the series has had a yearly iteration since the original Call of Duty in 2003. But even with a world-wide pandemic, Activision has stated projects are on track, and employees have managed to get things done: "With true ingenuity and input from the team, we are managing through this."
It is possible that the original rumors are true about Call of Duty 2020 being behind track, or even the rumor that claims that Black Ops will be dropped from the name of the next COD. The team may just be working extra diligently to catch up, and Activision foresees that it will launch in time. Treyarch is the team tasked with making the next Call of Duty, and the developer once created Call of Duty 3 in eight months.
It would be interesting to see Treyarch work on a non Black Ops for the first time since 2010. The developer has become somewhat of the favorite among many fans, and Vietnam may be the focus of this next iteration, according to some rumors. But most likely zombies will still have a key role in Call of Duty 2020 regardless, as Treyarch is known for the arcade monster mode.
The Call of Duty franchise has been very busy as of late. Just in the past few months, Call of Duty: Warzone launched with massive success, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered followed closely behind it. It is very rare for new Call of Duty games to release outside of the yearly Fall cadence. So all of these new titles in the "off-season" has made it so that some fans are questioning whether Activision is rethinking its yearly strategy, but the publisher has now clearly stated otherwise.
In the investor call, Activision Blizzard also talked about Modern Warfare exceeding expectations, so it's likely that fans can expect Modern Warfare to be supported well throughout 2020. But "new" is also fun, which is part of what has excited fans with Call of Duty: Warzone, and why not having a new COD in the fall would certainly be odd.
Call of Duty 2020Â is currently in development.