Just last week following the release of this year’s floor plans for next month’s E3 event in Los Angeles, it was clear that Activision will not be on the show floor as the publisher did not reserve a spot for the 3-day convention. That doesn’t mean that the company will not be present at the event entirely as it was previously revealed that the upcoming Call of Duty title will be showcased at the E3 Coliseum, just not among the attendees on the floor.
On top of Activision’s absence from the main floor, it seems that more is already in plans for the first-person franchise according to a report from Kotaku.
Sharing that for Activision to stay constant with the series’ yearly release schedule, the development cycle upon the three studios (Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer Games) will be shifting focus and reverting back to two studios as prior nearly five years ago. In the report from the outlet, it details that the 2020-aimed Sledgehammer title will instead be taking under the wing by Treyarch with the next installment in the black ops series.
As part of the decision, this means that both Sledgehammer Games alongside partnered developer Raven Software will return back to being support studios in assisting in coming installments rather than developing the games themselves.
Reasoning for the choice to revert back to the two year development cycle is due to “tension” within the development of Sledgehammer’s upcoming title. Kotaku’s report stating that both Sledgehammer and Raven continuously argued about certain aspects when working on the 2020 title and ultimately ended with the two returning back to support developers.
The report also explains that the two studios will now be using their new roles to assist in the development of Treyarch’s next title as it takes the spot for 2020. Revealing that the next title will another addition to the Black Ops franchise with Black Ops 5 supposedly being in development.
For what Sledgehammer Games initially developed was not detailed in the report. Official word from either Treyarch or Activision has yet to come out to verify if Black Ops 5 is the next title for 2020’s Call of Duty release.
Source: Kotaku
