According to journalist Tom Henderson, who has a reputation for leaking information about Call of Duty and other key franchises, this year’s Call of Duty could arrive as early as October. Henderson reported hearing “rumblings” in a tweet on January 13 that this fall’s Call of Duty game, which is expected to be a follow-up to Modern Warfare 2019, could be pushed back one month for an October release. The leaker alleges that the change is due to poor sales of Call of Duty: Vanguard. While Vanguard topped the PlayStation Store sales charts in North America and Europe when it was released in November, overall sales were down from Black Ops Cold War last year.
Henderson also stated that the early release of Call of Duty 2022 would be followed by a “major” update to Call of Duty: Warzone. Raven Software integrated both 2020’s Black Ops Cold War and 2021’s Vanguard into Warzone within a month or two after each game’s release, so this Warzone report appears to follow suit.
In addition to these assertions, Henderson asserts that the Modern Warfare 2 sequel will be revealed this summer. This wouldn’t be surprising either, given the timeline, which coincides with previous disclosures, such as Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard, which both debuted in August.
Other speculated specifics for Call of Duty 2022 include a tale centered on Colombian drug cartels, a “moral compass” system and a Warzone map that incorporates famous Modern Warfare 2 locations including Afghan, Quarry, Terminal, and Trailer Park.
Walkouts in protest of surprise contract terminations within Raven Software’s QA team have continued, and Activision Blizzard employees have recently claimed radio silence from leadership in respect to reconciliation efforts. Activision Blizzard is been the subject of litigation and investigations into allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination against women.
