Ever since around 2014, the Call of Duty franchise has been operating on a three year development cycle. Between Treyarch, Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games, the Call of Duty series has offered a decent amount of variety through the unique gameplay and story stylings of each development studio. Though this 3 year development cycle was temporarily broken following internal struggles, it would seem as though things are back on track, with Sledgehammer Games set to make the next entry.

As mentioned, the Call of Duty franchise has been operating on a three year development cycle between Treyarch, Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer games. Following the release of Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty Modern Warfare in 2019, Sledgehammer Games was next in line to release a title. Unfortunately, the studio underwent some internal struggles, with Treyarch eventually stepping in to make what would become 2020’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.

While this threatened to upend the 3 year development cycles for other studios such as Infinity Ward, it would seem as though this will not be the case. According to Call of Duty new site ‘modernwarzone’, 2021’s Call of Duty is “100% being developed by Sledgehammer Games.”

What this means for the Call of Duty franchise is that Infinity Ward will be given the full 3 years to work on Modern Warfare 2, ensuring it is as good a game as possible when it presumably releases in 2022.

While Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was well liked enough, it was clear that the game had less time in the oven than 2019’s Modern Warfare, making the game feel like a step down in many aspects. As such, it is good to see that the Call of Duty franchise will be settling back into its 3 year cycles, making sure that the studios have as much time as possible.

KitGuru says: What did you think of Black Ops Cold War? Which of the three COD studios is your favourite? What do you want to see from this year’s Call of Duty? Let us know down below.

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