As one of gaming’s biggest franchises, Call of Duty continues to bring in millions of dollars with each release, and it will likely continue to thrive for decades to come. With a successful free-to-play lineup in Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty Mobile, as well as yearly premium releases that offer paid cosmetics and battle passes, Call of Duty has established an extremely profitable business model. However, the series could thrive even more by revisiting a few concepts that worked extremely well, and exploring some new ones.

With Call of Duty and Activision as a whole now a part of the Xbox catalog, Microsoft could be looking for ways to get the most out of the series. With such a long history of classic games and modes to pull from, there is potential for Call of Duty to expand in a number of directions, something that could be appealing for a brand that is built around Xbox Game Pass. In particular, remasters, remakes, and spin-offs could be a winning approach for Call of Duty and its many fans.

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Bringing Back Call of Duty Campaign and Full Game Remasters

For a time, Call of Duty really seemed to be getting the ball rolling on the remaster front. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3’s Zombies Chronicles was a stellar celebration of the mode’s history, offering eight beautiful remakes in one pack that helped BO3 become the perfect Zombies mode. With Infinite Warfare being divisive from the moment it was revealed, fans were given a full remaster of Call of Duty 4 to go to as an alternative, and Modern Warfare Remastered did extremely well. On a smaller scale, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered sold tremendously, giving new and nostalgic fans access to a classic singleplayer mode.

For whatever reason, though, the remasters suddenly stopped. Zombies Chronicles 2 was rumored, but never came to fruition, and the same can be said for Modern Warfare 3 Campaign Remastered. Perhaps Call of Duty’s new release plan had something to do with this shift, as going forward, pseudo-remakes like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will supposedly launch every other year. It would be a shame if this was the case, though, as there is much to be gained from proper remakes of games and modes.

While Activision may want to save the newer Call of Duty games for these “off-year” Call of Duty titles, there is no reason that other experiences cannot be revived. For instance, with the series seemingly moving away from World War 2, and newer games like WW2 and Vanguard struggling to nail this setting, a full remake of World at War could be a huge hit. Alternatively, a campaign remaster of the original Black Ops is overdue, as its twist-filled narrative arguably made it even better than Modern Warfare 2. As for Zombies Chronicles 2, the sales numbers of the original map pack is all the proof Activision should need to greenlight another set of map remakes.

Treating Call of Duty Zombies As Its Own Entity

Beyond more remasters of campaigns and full games, as well as the long overdue Zombies Chronicles 2, it is about time that Call of Duty Zombies gets its own game. Once again, this is something that leaked but has not yet become a reality, which is a shame since there is so much potential for a standalone Call of Duty Zombies project to be a huge hit. It could offer a true singleplayer Zombies mode instead of something like Black Ops 3’s Nightmares, while also collecting every past map in one package. It could house all the Dead Ops Arcade experiences as well as Custom Zombies creation tools that grow deeper whenever Treyarch releases a new map with fresh assets. A Call of Duty Zombies game could have its own in-game store to make it more profitable, while a dedicated team could constantly update it with events and maps to ensure it never gets old.

Ultimately, Activision does not need to change its existing model to make Call of Duty even bigger than it already is. Considering how well the series is doing, there is no reason to make major adjustments. However, with so many studios existing under the Activision Blizzard banner - and now new partners in all of Microsoft’s studios - Call of Duty should be able to branch out even further without damaging its existing setup. Campaign remasters do not require the bulk of Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer, or Treyarch, while Raven has proven before it is capable of a full game remaster. As for Zombies, the team at Treyarch that works on the mode deserves to be uncoupled from Call of Duty’s yearly releases, as it could likely accomplish so much more if it had extra freedom.

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