Is Call of Duty Dying?

Call of Duty and its franchise is one of the biggest video games in history. It is, by far, the most popular first-person shooter game in history. However, recently, the franchise has been facing a lot of negative turnout over the last couple of years begging the question. Is Call of Duty dying? 

Yes, there is obviously somewhat of a revival with Call of Duty Mobile and Call of Duty Warzone. However, the games themselves have not been making for good Call of Duty’s. This is due to the lack of attention the games have been getting. 

Whether it be a lack of ranked play, skill-based matchmaking, or lack of an anti-cheat in their games, nothing has truly come out yet to fix any of these. But, the only reason why this has all come about is due to the previous Call of Duty’s we have had. Which means we have to go back to where it all started. 

The First Years of Call of Duty (2003-2006)

The first two Call of Duty’s(Call of Duty & Call of Duty 2) were made in 2003 and 2004. The publisher being Activision, now Activision Blizzard, and the lead developer being Infinity War. It was made to be a first-person shooter game based in the World War Two time period. 

The second iteration of a Call of Duty game with Treyarch taking the reins to make Call of Duty 3 in 2006. This created a quiet rivalry between developers which was never spoken about until later on. 

The Glory Days of Call of Duty (2007-2012)

The golden age of Call of Duty started with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, a new type of Call of Duty. A Call of Duty is not based on World War Two. Then a brewing rivalry between Infinity and Treyarch came to be as they went back and forth in creating the best Call of Duty’s to have ever been made. 

With Infinity Ward creating the likes of Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3, along with Treyarch creating Black Ops 1 and 2, it was a wild ride for Call of Duty fans. This is also where Sledgehammer was first introduced into the picture. It was some of the best days to ever play COD and still is to this day. The graphics were not exactly there, but the gameplay, the modes, the comradery within games, made up for it. 

The Dark Days of Call of Duty (2013-2017)

After Black Ops 2, Infinity Ward wanted to make something different. In which, they made Call of Duty Ghost. Which, consequently, was one of the worst-performing Call of Duty’s in history and by far, the worst to play. 

Shortly after the blunder of Call of Duty: Ghost, an onslaught of futuristic Call of Duty’s ensued. It was back and forth of pretty much the same game being made by different developers for three years straight. This led to some of the worst types of gameplay, but it never amounted to the game made in 2017. 

The developers and publisher wanted to get back to its roots of World War Two and recreate a World War Two Call of Duty. In that, they made the worst Call of Duty to have ever been made. It was the third lowest-rated game in the franchise’s history. In a matter of four years and six Call of Duty’s, the franchise managed to have three out of the four Call of Duty’s to be the lowest-rated Call of Duty’s they have ever had. 

Possible Resurgence (2018-2019)

In 2018, Black Ops 4 came out. With that, it came with a new game mode, Blackout. A new game mode made to have a battle royale atmosphere and a new game mode for players to enjoy. It was a great success. Treyarch made a masterpiece as it brought back what it felt like to be a Call of Duty player. No wonder it was one of the most sold Call of Duty’s of all time along with being one of the highest rated since the start of the dark days. 

In 2019, Modern Warfare came out. It was a remake by Infinity Ward along with Raven Software. It was what Call of Duty wanted and needed. The game presented a nostalgic-like effect on its players bringing it back to the good ole days. Only now, as produced in 2020, they made Warzone, the better version of Blackout which caused worldwide popularity of the franchise to increase creating a resurgence the franchise desperately needed. 

The Dark Days Return

Unfortunately, the resurgence of Call of Duty and its franchise was short-lived because of the next Call of Duty to come out. That being Call of Duty: Cold War. With its SBMM, broken spawns, broken guns, and average maps, it caused a lot of Call of Duty players to go away from playing COD and instead play games like Valorant and even Halo. 

As if it could not get any worse, Sledgehammer decided to take the reins once again and make Call of Duty: Vanguard. Another COD based in World War Two. The current Call of Duty is, as of right now, the lowest-rated Call of Duty of all time. 

The Future?

Who knows about the future for Call of Duty and its franchise. There are so many other games to play other than COD. So much so that many professionals in COD are making the transition to being pros in other games like Halo. 

With a decrease in play within the Call of Duty community, little to no streamers, less and fewer professionals supporting the game, could this truly be the end of Call of Duty? Is Call of Duty dying? Will this new dark day era be the demise of Call of Duty? 

Featured Image Courtesy of Call of Duty

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