Summary
- TheGhostofHope, a Call of Duty insider, is reporting that the 2026 installment of COD is being worked on development kits for the next Xbox.
- The game, which is reportedly a fourth installment in the Modern Warfare reboot franchise, will also ditch last-gen hardware (PS4 and Xbox One).
- While details of the next Xbox are scarce, it will reportedly involve both a traditional home console, along with a dedicated handheld.
While the 2025 installment of Call of Duty is reportedly being developed with an eye on releasing it for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, much to the frustration of current-generation console owners, it appears that the 2026 iteration of Call of Duty will be looking to the future. Specifically, the yet-to-be-revealed successor to the Xbox Series line of consoles.
Following the announcement of a delay to the upcoming Season 03 of Black Ops 6, known Call of Duty insider, TheGhostofHope, took to Twitter to share several massive details. Among them, the 2026 version of Call of Duty is being worked on development kits for the next Xbox, potentially signaling a launch on the next Microsoft console.
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What Is COD 2026?
Before the end of 2024, TheGhostofHope reported that the 2026 COD will be developed by Infinity Ward and will likely be a fourth entry in the studio’s Modern Warfare reboot timeline. Maps from Modern Warfare 3 (the 2011 version) are also reportedly being remastered, similar to the remaster of MW2 (2009) maps in Modern Warfare 3 (2023).
What We Know About The Next Xbox
While PlayStation closed out 2024 with a mid-generation refresh in the form of the PS5 Pro, Microsoft skipped the hardware refresh altogether, instead seemingly opting to focus on the future. That future will reportedly include a dedicated handheld on top of a traditional home console.
During that same timeframe, Xbox head of consumer products, John Friend, revealed that the company had plans in the works for both the 25th anniversary of Halo and the 25th anniversary of Xbox. As Windows Central’s Jez Corden pointed out, the 25th anniversary of Xbox would fall on Nov. 15, 2026, the same timeframe that new consoles have historically been released at, as well as the same window that Call of Duty has typically dominated. In other words, the two could be a match made in heaven — a new Xbox with a new COD to take advantage of its features.
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