Report: Analyst report suggests Activision/Treyarch working on Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 for 2018

A report was issued by Analyst Firm Cowen & Company this week about Activision Blizzard’s expected 2018 guidance in terms of revenue and stock share and included a couple of hints about what the company could be working on for 2018.

This analyst claims that Activision will release Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 in 2018 to match fan expectations. Cowen & Company believes that Activision’s remainder of 2017 should be better than 2016, with Call of Duty: WWII’s launch expected to out perform Infinite Warfare’s launch numbers.

Activision has not announced any details about 2018 Call of Duty title, so this information is not official nor confirmed. Some rumors from earlier hinted that the title could be a modern-day set shooter. Back in February, during an Activision investor call, Activision CEO said the company has never been more excited about the Call of Duty 3-year slate coming up.

The analyst report from Cowen & Company also includes other tidbits about the overall Activision Blizzard company. They state that Activision Blizzard should be downgraded for their 2018 guidance in terms of stock/investor expectations because of many uncertainties in the new programs the company’s launching. One of Activision Blizzard’s biggest new programs of 2018 will be the new Overwatch League, the esports initiative for Blizzard’s Overwatch title, and Cowen & Company believe investors are putting too much hype around the revenue return from the program. Cowen believes there needs to be more results from the league before guidance or expected revenue can come in play.

Another reason Cowen & Company believes Activision Blizzard can’t meet 2018 expectations is because of the low revenue return from the King Digital side of the company. Activision Blizzard acquired King in 2015.

SOURCE: GameSpot