Call of Duty Made Unplayable For Millions As New-Gen Exclusivity Officially Confirmed

Last year’s release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was arguably one of the most challenging in the franchise’s history.

In a year that also delivered Battlefield 6, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 failed to resonate widely with players, drawing criticism for its main campaign which proved to be both bonkers and incredibly short.

Even the star power of Milo Ventimiglia, Michael Rooker, and Kiernan Shipka couldn’t save it from being labelled as a stark disappointment.

It prompted many fans to suggest that Call of Duty should ‘do a Battlefield’ and take a break from yearly launches to produce something worthwhile of gamers’ attention.

Activision

It doesn’t exactly look like Activision has listened to that request.

Call of Duty’s 2026 release hasn’t yet been announced, with a reveal instead likely coming at this June’s Xbox Showcase.

The rumoured Modern Warfare 4 will, however, mark one major shake-up for the series; previous-gen consoles are finally being left behind.

This year’s Call of Duty will officially be the first to leave the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One behind.

The official Call of Duty account confirmed as much after reports began circulating online suggesting that playtesting had included a PlayStation 4 version.

“Not sure where this one started, but it’s not true,” the tweet began on Twitter/X. “The next Call of Duty is not being developed for PS4.”

This, quite obviously, is going to exclude millions of gamers who haven’t yet made the hop to the newest generation of consoles.

It’s arguably good news for the franchise though.

Call of Duty was one of the very few major franchises left clinging to the previous generation, and that limits the series’ yearly releases.

Devs either end up having to scale back their ambition to create a product that caters to all platforms or time has to be wasted adjusting previous-gen versions.

That time could be better spent elsewhere - perhaps even on extending the main campaign.

It’s with that in mind that Call of Duty gamers seem optimistic for the first time in many, many years.

“Best decision y’all could have made,” read one reply.

“WE ARE FINALLY PAST THE PS4 GENERATION,” shouted another.

“Casually just dropping this info is crazy,” remarked a gamer.

Everything We Know About Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4

It’s widely believed that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will be confirmed as the franchise’s next game.

In fact, dataminers have already spotted pre-order information in the backend of the Call of Duty app, suggesting a reveal isn’t too far away.

Infinity Ward is believed to be handling development duties again, plus we know that Modern Warfare 4 won’t launch on Game Pass as a Day One title following recent changes.

Again, it’s likely the game will be revealed at the Xbox Showcase on 7 June at 10am PT / 6pm BST. We’ll be bringing you the latest headlines on that date.

READ MORE: Xbox To Cut Back On First-Party Day One Releases In Controversial Move