·
·
Tech & Science
Activision confirms the next Call of Duty will skip PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, ending cross-generational support and forcing millions to upgrade.
The next installment in the Call of Duty franchise will not launch on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, Activision has confirmed, marking the first time in 13 years that the blockbuster series has skipped a console generation. The decision, which tech circles have described as a seismic shift for the gaming community, was announced on the official Call of Duty X account on May 4 in response to rumors that the game—widely speculated to be Modern Warfare 4—was being tested on older hardware. "The next Call of Duty is not being developed for the PlayStation 4 platform," the company stated bluntly.
According to a report from IGN, this year's release will be the first since Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013) to bypass the older consoles. Last year's Black Ops 7 served as the final farewell for users of the previous generation. The move ends a 13-year streak of cross-generational compatibility, forcing millions of players who have not yet upgraded to confront a new financial and technical reality.
Analysts at Eurogamer have pointed to the aging hardware of the PS4 and Xbox One as the primary driver behind the shift. Developers were reportedly facing severe limitations due to the older processors, which hampered their ability to improve artificial intelligence and implement more complex physics. By abandoning these platforms, the studio gains the freedom to build denser maps with fully destructible environments and higher graphical fidelity, without having to "downgrade quality" to run on decade-old hardware. The move also promises to drastically reduce load times, relying entirely on the speed of SSD drives found in current-gen consoles.
The timing of the transition compounds the shock for many gamers. Financial reports from Sony and Nintendo indicate that the console market is experiencing an unprecedented surge in costs. Increased demand for memory chips from artificial intelligence companies has doubled component prices. Sony has been forced to raise the price of the PlayStation 5 to $649.99 in the United States—a $150 increase over its original launch price. Sales have already slumped, with PS5 sales dropping 15.6% early this year, signaling that consumers are struggling to keep pace with the new pricing. This places Activision in a high-stakes gamble, risking the loss of a massive fanbase still attached to the PS4.
The financial burden does not end with the hardware. According to a report from French site AllKeyShop, the upcoming game is expected to adhere to a minimum price of $70, with the elimination of budget-friendly editions that were previously available. Furthermore, unease is spreading following reports that Microsoft may alter its policy regarding the game's availability on Game Pass from day one, potentially making the hobby a heavy financial weight for millions of players.
Observers conclude that abandoning the most popular consoles in Sony and Microsoft's history is not merely a technical decision, but the result of intersecting geopolitical and technological crises. While developers gain creative freedom, many players lose the ability to access the world's best-selling game without a massive investment exceeding $700—the combined cost of the console and the game itself.
