Call of Duty reportedly brings premium title every 2 years with huge DLC in between

Liam Mackay
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Operators

It’s been reported that Modern Warfare 2 will have a two-year cycle, with Sledgehammer Games bringing a huge multiplayer and campaign DLC in 2023. Activision are reportedly considering making this the permanent schedule, continuing with Treyarch’s CoD 2024.

Following a report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Modern Warfare 2 was set to be the first Call of Duty game with a two-year cycle. However, Activision have confirmed that they’re bringing a “full premium release” in 2023.

It’s been claimed that this premium release will actually be paid DLC for Modern Warfare 2, continuing the campaign and expanding on multiplayer, Warzone 2, and DMZ. According to insiders TheGhostofHope and RalphsValve, this is how Call of Duty games will be released going forward, continuing with Treyarch’s CoD 2024.

According to this joint report, Activision plan on releasing Call of Duty in a ‘Tick Tock’ cycle. ‘Ticks’ (Year 1) refer to mainline CoD games such as Modern Warfare 2, and the ‘Tocks’ (Year 2) will be premium DLC, expanding on the previous year’s game.

The Tick years will bring “significant engine updates” and kickstart a new storyline, while the Tocks continue that storyline and lead into the next premium title. Studios such as Infinity Ward and Treyarch will be developing the main games, with Sledgehammer Games “and several other studios” developing the premium DLC content.

This cycle has reportedly already begun with Modern Warfare 2, with Jason Schreier claiming that Call of Duty 2023 will actually be premium DLC for Modern Warfare 2 but marketed as a full release thanks to its new maps and continuation of the campaign.

Hope clarified that this won’t just be for Modern Warfare 2, “but Call of Duty 2024 from Treyarch as well.” They said they’ve “corroborated this with quite a few people.”

Of course, none of this has been confirmed by Activision so take it all with a grain of salt. Plans change all the time, so even if the report is accurate, the ‘Tick Tock’ cycle may not actually arrive.


Warzone 2 and DMZ arrive with November 16’s Season 1, so check out how to watch live gameplay ahead of their release.

Image Credit: Activision

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About The Author

Liam is CharlieIntel's Editor who focuses on Call of Duty but also plays lots of fantasy RPGs or anything else in his massive gaming backlog. After graduating in Journalism from Edinburgh Napier University, Liam freelanced in games journalism before joining CharlieIntel in November 2020. You can contact Liam at [email protected].