Call of Duty: Warzone sequel slated for 2023, but may be last installment on PlayStation, report suggests

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With Microsoft on the brink of acquiring publisher Activision Blizzard through a reported $70 billion deal, many questions surrounding the futurity of the Phone call of Duty franchise have come to the forefront. Information technology does announced that some of these may have been answered, at least in terms of what fans can look for the next few years. A new report has claimed that an agreement set in place earlier Microsoft's acquisition will let 2 more mainline titles and a sequel to the franchise's battle royale spin-off to release on PlayStation before 2024.

Per Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, sources close to the deal accept alleged that Activision Blizzard had previously come to terms with Sony on releasing a Call of Duty annually for PlayStation (along with Xbox and PC) until at least the end of 2023. Even more striking, the partnership is said to besides revolve effectually a "new iteration" of Call of Duty: Warzone set to release by the stop of next year. Although Schreier did non go into detail about whether this would be a new game entirely, it appears the battle royale could finally make its mode to next-gen consoles with the release of this purported sequel.

No matter, this report does create skepticism whether Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and the rest of Xbox's executives volition extend this agreement across its expiration engagement. Last calendar week, Spencer confirmed that Xbox does intend to honor "all existing agreements" with Sony, just it is clear now that the bargain may not last equally long as believed.

The report mentions that Microsoft's plans for the franchise beyond these games are "hazier," as the console creator will not but take to decide whether the franchise will continue to exist on multiple platforms but too if it should carry on with its annual release cycle. It was terminal reported that even Activision executives had recently questioned whether to extend the development periods of later Call of Duty titles, despite releasing on a yearly footing since 2005.

Now, fans on PlayStation may be forced to wait for another 18 months for any solid answers concerning Call of Duty'south hereafter, every bit Microsoft's buy of Activision Blizzard is expected to finalize in June 2023.

Related: Xbox Game Pass volition receive "as many Activision Blizzard games" as possible, says Phil Spencer