Activision confirms new Call of Duty sub-franchise as Black Ops 7 MAU halves

Activision CMO Tyler Bahl confirms a new Call of Duty sub-franchise is already in development. It will sit alongside Modern Warfare and Black Ops as a third pillar. The move follows five straight years of consecutive Modern Warfare or Black Ops sequels. Monthly active users halved to an estimated 20 million after Black Ops 7's launch.

Bahl frames falling scores as franchise fatigue despite record scale
Bahl labels the scrutiny around Call of Duty's longevity the Call of Duty tax.
"We have 100 million free-to-play players, we've sold 500 million units, it's one of the biggest franchises of all time, and we have a billion downloads on mobile." - Tyler Bahl, Chief Marketing Officer, Activision
Black Ops 6 scored 83 on Metacritic in 2024.
Black Ops 7 fell to 65 in 2025.
Modern Warfare 3 hit a franchise-low 56 on PS5 in 2023.

Black Ops 7's reception triggers a rare on-record admission
Bahl acknowledges Black Ops 7 fell short of expectations.
"I don't think we were happy with every aspect of last year's game, and we heard the feedback loud and clear." - Tyler Bahl, Chief Marketing Officer, Activision
Call of Duty's MAU sank to an estimated 20 million over summer 2025.
Ampere Analysis says that figure is half of its prior level.
Nostalgia ports of Black Ops 1 and 2 were the only engagement rescue.

Three-pillar model spreads production risk across multiple studios
Bahl confirms work has already begun on the new sub-franchise.
"We've already stated that a future title is going to be a new sub-franchise and we've already laid the groundwork." - Tyler Bahl, Chief Marketing Officer, Activision
Treyarch separately teased unprecedented new work on its Black Ops line.
Sledgehammer Games is reportedly attached to Call of Duty's 2027 release.
Sledgehammer built Vanguard, the last non-Black-Ops, non-Modern-Warfare entry, in 2021.

Timeline and setting for the new sub-franchise remain unconfirmed
Bahl has not disclosed a launch window for the new sub-franchise.
Dexerto reports a 2027 target, though no time setting has been confirmed.
A July 2025 leak claimed the 2027 title would be modern-era, without jetpack combat.
That same leak's martial-arts claim is only partly confirmed by Activision, per Insider Gaming.
Modern Warfare 4's October 23 launch alone carries the interim fix.
What this means
For Publishers & Developers: Slot rival shooter launches into the engagement gap before the third pillar ships.
For Investors & VC: Discount valuations of annualized franchises that rely on same-series back-to-back sequels.
For Service Vendors: Pitch worldbuilding, concept art and co-dev capacity to studios staffing the third pillar.