Call of Duty is supposed to appear apparent no longer annually. In an internal mail Activision Blizzard confirmed the new procedure. In the mail, however, it was actually about the permanent employment of the QA Testers – but not all the reason for pleasure.

• Activision Blizzard: Mail about working conditions for QA tester contains important detail
• Setting the QA Tester: Only one conditionally good news
• No New Call of Duty in 2023
• Great changes in Activision

_Update from 8 April 2022: _

Activision Blizzard: Mail about working conditions for QA tester contains important detail

The actual content of the mail revolves around the changes already confirmed by Activision Blizzard with regard to the working conditions of the QA Testers . The company shared Bloomberg with a total of 1,100 qa testers in a permanent position will be passed and paid with a minimum wage of $ 20 per hour . (Source: Bloomberg).

In an internal mail from Activision, it also means that the permanent employment of the QA testers is a result of the new Publishing Strategy of Call of Duty. The series moves from the annual publication rhythm of the games and changes to an “Always on” model, ie the sevice game thoughts practiced at Warz1. (Source: Charlie Intel Via Twitter).

Setting the QA Tester: Only one conditionally good news

Of course, the permanent employment and also the planned minimum wage are a big gain for the QA Testers . In the video game industry, the jobs in quality assurance are usually the entry and shaped of poor payment, lots of work and the steady uncertainty about the length of the temporary contracts. Towards the end of 2021, QA Testers of the Activision Studios Raven software started the formation of a union . Their goal was to achieve a permanent employment of the QA testers at Raven.

According to Bloomberg, the QA Testers are excluded from the new scheme at Raven and do not belong to the 1,100 people who are now allowed to expect a permanent employment. Activision establishes this exclusion with legal circumstances accompanied by the not yet state-recognized union of the Raven Qa Testers. Activision Blizzard refused to recognize the union.

Opposite Kotaku called a spokeswoman of the American trade union CWA this approach an attempt to stop the formation of a union at Raven and to drive a wedge between the QA testers at Activision Blizzard **. According to CWA, it is precisely the for better working conditions QA testers at Raven to owe that the company is now enlarging. (Source: Kotaku).

_Original report from 23 February 2022: _

No New Call of Duty in 2023

According to the well-known journalist Jason Schreier, Publisher Activision adopts for the year 2023 from the annual development cycle of the call-of-duty series and breaks a now 17 years old tradition. (Source: Bloomberg). The article is a paid content of Bloomberg, but Schreier also shares the key messages via Twitter:

This year still appears The new modern warfare of developer Infinity Ward and a successor of Call of Duty: Warzone . Following the previous scheme, 2023 developers Treyarch would return to the series, whose games belong to Black Ops series. According to Schreier, however, the corresponding game will not appear in 2023, but only the following year. Activision already has an official statement. The Publisher shared Bloomberg with:

We have an exciting list of “Premium and Free2play Call of Duty” experiences for this year, next year, and beyond. We look forward to telling more details if the time is mature.

Great changes in Activision

With this decision Activision misses the 20th anniversary of the series. The first COD was published in 2003. The annual release of main games started only in 2005. According to Jason Schreier, the reason for this Call of Duty very radical step is No episode from the planned takeover by Microsoft . The decision was regarded regardless of it and is due to the comparatively bad sales of Vanguard.

COD fans have to deal with the same game full two years. Modern Warfare (2019) is not undisputed in the community and the successor appearing this year could make 2022 and 2023 to a patience sample for some fans.