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Call of Duty 15 Oct 2026, 20:30

Activision confirms new Call of Duty subfranchise in development

Activision confirms new Call of Duty subfranchise in development

Activision has reportedly confirmed a new Call of Duty subfranchise is in development. The studio and release date are still unknown.

  • Tyler Bahl says future Call of Duty games need to focus more on innovation and offer something new, better, or different.
  • The studio behind the project and its release date have not been officially announced; Sledgehammer Games is being mentioned online, but that has not been confirmed.

What happened

According to GameSpot and IGN, Activision has confirmed that work is underway on a new Call of Duty subfranchise. The reporting cites Tyler Bahl, Activision's CMO, as the source of the confirmation. That marks the first public indication from the company that the series will expand beyond Black Ops and Modern Warfare.

Bahl tied that decision to the direction Activision wants the series to take. In the quoted remarks, he says future Call of Duty games need to innovate and that players want something new, better, or different. The source material also frames that message as a response to a market that is changing quickly.

The reports do not name a studio, setting, or official release date for the new subfranchise. Online speculation has pointed to Sledgehammer Games, but Activision has not confirmed that. The same reporting also mentions Modern Warfare 4 as the next major release in the existing Modern Warfare line, with a date of October 23.

Timeline

  • 2019: Infinity Ward begins work on the current Modern Warfare storyline, according to the reporting.

  • 2021: Call of Duty: Vanguard launches as the last mainline entry outside Black Ops and Modern Warfare, according to GameSpot.

  • 2026-10-15: GameSpot and IGN report that Activision has confirmed a new Call of Duty subfranchise.

  • 2026-10-15: Tyler Bahl says, according to the sources, that Activision needs to innovate and offer players something new, better, or different.

  • 2026-10-23: Modern Warfare 4 is mentioned in the same reporting with a release date on this day.

  • 2027: a rumor about a Call of Duty project for 2027 is circulating in the source material, but it has not been officially confirmed.

Background

Call of Duty has largely revolved around Black Ops and Modern Warfare in recent years. The new subfranchise is presented in the reports as a break from that repetition within the annual release cycle.

The sources also say Treyarch is teasing something players have not experienced before, though without further detail. It also remains unclear from the provided information whether Modern Warfare 4 will be the end of Infinity Ward's current storyline.

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Sources