A lot of attention is already starting to turn towards what 2025 has in store for the Call of Duty franchise, with many rumors and reports already allowing fans to form a good idea of what to expect from this year’s mainline release. While Black Ops 6 did well to break a lot of records for Call of Duty and maintain a lot of positive attention around the time of its launch, the title has still served to provide Activision with many lessons that can be applied to 2025’s release.
For example, one lingering criticism of Black Ops 6 concerns the lack of a traditional three-lane structure and size variety in its map pool, with there seemingly being a lot of pressure on 2025’s Call of Duty to avoid this same pitfall. Despite how much of an issue this has proven to be for Black Ops 6, the rumored premise of 2025’s Call of Duty release as a direct sequel to Black Ops 2 with some remastered maps should completely avoid this particular criticism.
Related
Rumor: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 in Development for Next-Gen Xbox
A leaker suggests a new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare title is currently in the works and will be released on Xbox’s next-gen console.
Call of Duty 2025’s Map Pool Might Play it Safe with Remasters
Many of the early reports surrounding 2025’s Call of Duty project are quite intriguing, with most rumors pointing towards the title being a direct sequel to 2012’s Black Ops 2. This would mark two subsequent years of Black Ops CoD releases, which is understandably drawing some concern given the franchise’s recent history with back-to-back releases for the same sub-franchise.
2022 and 2023 saw the release of Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3 as part of Activision’s ambitious reboot of the series, with MW3 drawing huge amounts of lingering criticism because of this rapid release schedule. The campaign of Modern Warfare 3 was infamously short due to its quick development turnaround, with most of its multiplayer content feeling like a vague extension of its predecessor while being reliant on maps from the original Modern Warfare 2.
2023’s Modern Warfare 3 was reportedly developed in just 16 months, which was quite far below the norm for the franchise.
In fact, all of Modern Warfare 3‘s launch multiplayer maps were taken straight from the 2009 title, drawing both excitement and criticism over this glaring lack of originality. While the overall legacy of 2023’s MW3 is quite a negative one, the reports of 2025 featuring another Black Ops title seem to run the risk of history repeating itself. Of course, a BO2 sequel would feature a near-futuristic setting that would feel quite distinct against the 1990s setting of Black Ops 6, but it seems likely that 2025 will see the repeat of one MW3 content strategy if the rumors provde true.
A Blend of Old and New at Launch Could Be a Saving Grace For Call of Duty 2025
Reports suggest that, alongside brand-new multiplayer experiences, 2025’s CoD release will feature many remastered maps from Black Ops 2, meaning iconic experiences like Hijacked, Standoff, and Raid could easily make renewed appearances in the franchise. These now-classic Call of Duty titles like Black Ops 2 did a lot of the legwork in terms of cementing the formula of three-lane maps for the series, and their return in 2025’s CoD would instantly distance the title from Black Ops 6‘s more erratically designed experiences.
Of course, this approach still runs the risk of drawing criticism due to a perceived lack of originality or too much change being implemented to historic maps, but the core structure of these remastered experiences should still remain largely the same. The fresh maps of Black Ops 6 have been controversial since the game’s release, and a blend of remastered BO2 maps alongside original experiences for 2025’s CoD should do away with a lot of this.
- Released
-
October 25, 2024
- ESRB
-
Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs