Last week, it was reported that this year’s Call of Duty, which is rumored to be a direct sequel to 2012’s Black Ops 2, is aiming to release on last-gen hardware (PS4 and Xbox One) alongside the current slate of consoles and PC.
Of course, nothing is set in stone right now, with Insider Gaming recently reporting that its sources couldn’t definitively say whether it will actually release on last-gen or leave the old hardware behind for good.
Should Call Of Duty Leave PS4 and Xbox One Behind?
That didn’t stop loads of fans from taking aim at the prospect of yet another title appearing on old hardware and potentially holding the series back from its full potential. “Wish they’d move the fu** on,” one user wrote, with others sharing similar viewpoints.
If Call of Duty 2025 does release on last-gen hardware, it would be the sixth straight cross-gen entry. For reference, the PS3 and Xbox 360 only received three CoDs post-PS4 and Xbox One, with the final game being a heavily neutered release before Activision pulled the plug altogether.
It’s understandable that, with the semi-frequent release of cross-gen games still being produced, or in the case of Hogwarts Legacy and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, being ported backwards after releasing as current-gen “exclusives,” gamers are still looking for ways to justify their next-gen consoles purchases. Almost five years removed from their release, the PS5 and Xbox Series X don’t feel like the industry-leading pieces of hardware they should be.
Meanwhile, others are looking for a reason to jump ship and leave their dusty old boxes behind. But Call of Duty is the last game anyone should be spending their energy rallying behind in the current landscape when the hugely popular shooter franchise recently admitted its use of Generative AI, adding to the laundry list of problems players have with a series willing to nickel and dime them every step of the way.
COD Has Skirted By Scot-Free With Its Use Of AI
Back in July, it was revealed that the Modern Warfare 3 Yokai Bundle was created using Generative AI. The skin was made and sold for nearly $20, despite internal guarantees from Activision that AI would not be used for final in-game assets, but rather concepts that would then be fleshed out by human beings. Clearly, that promise has been left in the dust.
Things have quickly snowballed since. Last year’s Black Ops 6 is littered with AI-generated assets across its digital storefronts, including some very noticeable attempts. From Zombie Santa to NSFW calling cards to a very blatant recreation of Hatsune Miku, the game is seemingly packed with calling cards, icons, loading screens, and more that have been produced by Generative AI.
Black Ops 6 was released in October. It wasn’t until February that an AI disclaimer was added to the game’s Steam page, a requirement from Steam before a game even launches.
The situation isn’t helped by the fact that Activision has been posting feelers for potential mobile games, including ones centered on Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot and CoD, with art that is entirely AI-generated. That’s not to mention that, up until last week, Black Ops 6 never once disclosed its use of Generative AI on Steam, a necessary component of having a game listed on the storefront.
All this is to say that fans of the iconic FPS series, and now Activision as a whole, have a lot more to worry about than whether the next game will arrive on PS4 or Xbox One. In many ways, news of last-gen support feels like an almost too coincidental smokescreen to detract from the real issues at hand.
What does it matter if the game releases on old hardware when the world’s single-best-selling video game for 16 straight years is actively taking shortcuts while simultaneously laying off actual artists? Now that Activision has already started resorting to such tactics and continues to maintain an active audience and make profits, it will continue crossing this ethical line again and again and again.
The same fans complaining about their favorite game being “held back” by circa 2013 hardware should be far more concerned about the unchecked use of Generative AI by a company that has more than enough resources to create legitimate art, pay artists, and push the boundaries we want to see challenged in this stale genre.
Unfortunately, the use of Generative AI in video games likely isn’t going anywhere. As EA Sports recently noted, it relied on machine learning to help create thousands of athletes for its revival of college football in EA Sports College Football 25. The company maintains that it “simply would not have been able to deliver” the game without it. That’s nonsense and it knows it.
Call of Duty is at a crossroads right now, and while I understand the desire to leave old consoles behind in order for the experience to reach its full potential, Activision’s continued use of AI has made it clear the company has no interest in pushing the series in bold new directions without taking very notable shortcuts. If we want things to change, we need to stand up and speak out.
