Call of Duty Goes "Back To Its Roots" As Infinite Warfare "Didn't Resonate" With Fans

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During its financial earnings call, Activision revealed that this year's Call of Duty will take the series "back to its roots." Activision chief operating officer Thomas Tippl said that Infinite Warfare underperformed on the publisher's expectations, noting that "it's clear that for a portion of our audience, the space setting just didn't resonate."

Tippl said that "Traditional combat will once again take center stage" in this year's entry. Infinite Warfare was from Call of Duty mainstay studio Infinity Ward, while this year's entry is coming from Sledgehammer Games, whose last title was Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare in 2014. It's worth noting that this shift isn't in response to Infinite Warfare's performance, as Sledgehammer's game was greenlit years ago.

Activision of course has further games in the series planned.

"We've never been more excited creatively or commercially about our three-year Call of Duty slate," said Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was still the best-selling game in the United States for 2016. Battlefield 1 may have had a boost thanks to the switch to World War I, but it wasn't enough to catch the king. You know you have it good when your stumbles still outperform everyone else. Sadly, it's back to the mire of World War II most likely.