Is Call of Duty what it used to be? Turns out it may not be from the inside.

According to a Bloomberg report, Activision may be delaying next year’s Call of Duty game. 2023’s expected CoD entry will be pushed back following poor sales of Call of Duty Vanguard. This marks the first time the franchise has skipped an annual release in 20 years.

2021’s Call of Duty Vanguard failed to meet expectations sales-wise, with Activision executives believing that the company is “introducing new versions too rapidly”, which could lead to quality control and development issues, and apathy towards a franchise that build up over time.

Still, Activision is working on other projects to fill the 2023 CoD-less gap including CoD DLC and expansions, and a “new free-to-play online title”. Plus, there’s a CoD title this year: the sequel to the 2019 Modern Warfare reboot.

A CoD-less 2023 may be significant since that series is quite a huge draw for most fans in spite of its declining quality and features.

This would be a huge blow to retail, and to the premium gaming segment as a whole.

Would also accelerate the shift away from premium releases where consumers purchase upfront, to games supported by sales of DLC/MTX. Not sure that accleration could be slowed afterwards. https://t.co/fytOoEzjYV

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) February 22, 2022

Honestly, the only thing Activision needs to do right now is fixing CoD Warzone and make that the mainstay for CoD online games to fill in 2023, since the groundwork is already laid out.