Fixing Call of Duty: Inside Activision’s Modern Warfare 4 comeback plan

Key Points:

• Call of Duty faces challenges after Black Ops 7’s disappointing sales and player drop, with Battlefield 6 overtaking it as the best-selling shooter of 2025; Activision aims to regain trust with Modern Warfare 4 by returning to a grounded, authentic military shooter experience.
• Activision’s CMO Tyler Bahl emphasizes a focus on community engagement, nostalgia through successful Black Ops ports, and a new sub-franchise to address fan feedback, prioritizing player satisfaction over sales numbers.
• Modern Warfare 4 will launch on Switch 2, marking Call of Duty’s return to Nintendo, supported by a strong co-marketing campaign aimed at broadening Nintendo’s audience with first-person shooter content.
• Lucasfilm Games is embracing independent studios for Star Wars games, valuing quality and unique experiences over publisher size, as shown by the success of independent titles like Galactic Racer and Zero Company.
• Lucasfilm Games VP Douglas Reilly and Fuse Games’ Matt Webster highlight a collaborative partnership approach with developers, stressing respect for the Star Wars brand and flexibility in project scale to create innovative and authentic games.