After detailing its successes thus far in 2020, Activision Blizzard gave details on what’s to come the rest of this year, including the next Call of Duty game, during its first-quarter earnings report on Tuesday.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic shifting development to home, Activision Blizzard is on track to deliver “compelling content” this year, including Call of Duty 2020 and the World of Warcraft Shadowlands expansion. Both are set to release in the second half of the year, though no specific release date was given for either, other than a general fourth-quarter window for Shadowlands.
Shadowlands is but one part of what Blizzard has in store for its fans. Though Overwatch 2 wasn’t mentioned, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick stated that Blizzard has the “strongest” lineup of games in its lengthy history, led by the new WoW expansion.
On Activision’s side, Call of Duty 2020 is “still on track” for release this year, though no new details, including who is developing it or if it will release on the next generation of consoles, were given. Activision also has two unannounced titles for consoles and PC based on existing intellectual property, as well as new mobile games, coming later this year.
Details on the new console or PC titles are scarce at this time. However, we do know that the mobile releases will be extensions of existing console and PC franchises. Given the successful release of Call of Duty Mobile last year, it’s not surprising that Activision would want to release more mobile games based on current titles. That includes the controversial Diablo Immortal, the announcement of which was derided by fans who wanted Diablo 4 instead. The spinoff title will start playtesting in certain regions later this year.
Activision Blizzard’s existing library gets updates as well. Two new seasons for Warzone and Modern Warfare are expected soon, with new content, game modes, and battle passes on the way for both seasons.
Activision Blizzard reported that Warzone has become a “really important part” of the Call of Duty franchise. Modern Warfare was “amplified” by the release of the battle royale-centric game, with a “large number of users” upgrading from the free version to the full version of Modern Warfare.
These upgrades were well above the initial expectations, though no specific numbers were revealed. Activision Blizzard teased that Warzone could positively impact future premium Call of Duty games as well, hinting at a similar connection with the Call of Duty 2020 title. It is presumed that Warzone will act as the battle royale mode for that title alongside the traditional multiplayer component, much like its current relationship with Modern Warfare.
Imagine tapping a Zelda icon on your iPhone and jumping straight into Hyrule. A new open-source project called nxnative makes that possible by repackaging Switch games you’ve bought into apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with no emulator in the middle.
Why does this run so well on Apple devices?
The Call of Duty franchise has held a special place in my heart ever since I played my first Black Ops game back in 2010. That game's campaign was something else, with twists and turns that culminated in a mind-blowing finale. We can all admit that compared to those older campaigns, the recent CODs have been lackluster at best, and a complete and utter disappointment at worst. The reboot of Modern Warfare did give me some hope, as the first two installments were actually quite good, but the third game left such a bad taste in my mouth that I wasn’t exactly expecting much from Modern Warfare 4.
After recently finishing the campaign, I can say that this installment is nothing like the recent releases and instead feels closer to the franchise’s roots. For the first time in a long while, the campaign comes across as well-crafted rather than rushed to hit a release date. It arrives three years after MW3, and you can see exactly where all that time went. It seems the studio finally made listening to player feedback a priority.
Epic Games has just announced the 2026 Epic AI MegaJam, which is looking to see how much game development can be squeezed into a very short window. This is running from November 12 through November 15.
Participants can work alone or in teams of up to five people, build in Unreal Engine or Unreal Editor for Fortnite, and bring along “as many AI agents as you want.” Epic explicitly encourages coding agents, AI-generated assets, audio tools, writing tools, and other AI systems. The official event page literally says "Vibe your way to $50k.”