Call of Duty Leaker Suggests Xbox Shake-Up Could Impact Series’ Future

With Microsoft potentially delaying the next-gen Xbox console, the move has reportedly forced Call of Duty to be more flexible with its marketing plans, according to a leaker on social media. Although the Call of Duty franchise has traditionally relied on annual releases, those plans may soon change heading into the rest of 2026 and beyond.

The news about Call of Duty‘s future plans came amid a busy week for Microsoft and its gaming brand. On February 20, former Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer announced his retirement after 37 years with the company, effective immediately. Former Xbox president Sarah Bond also departed Microsoft on the same day. Following Spencer’s announcement, Microsoft stated that Matt Booty was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO). Spencer’s successor as Microsoft Gaming’s CEO is Asha Sharma, a former senior AI executive at Microsoft. Despite her background, Sharma denounced the use of generative AI in game development in her first public statement as CEO.

Outgoing Xbox President Sarah Bond Issues Statement Following Departure News

Outgoing Xbox President Sarah Bond issues a formal statement following the confirmation that she will be departing from Microsoft.

Call of Duty’s Changed Plans Could Still Benefit Gamers

Just a few weeks after Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Warzone launched Season 2, a leaker claimed that Activision’s plans for the series’ future have taken a hit thanks to some of Microsoft’s decisions. According to The Ghost of Hope on Twitter, the delayed launch of the next-gen Xbox console has “hurt” a lot of Call of Duty’s marketing plans for the system’s original 2026 launch window. The Ghost of Hope claimed via sources that the next planned CoD title, which is stated to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, was originally planned to arrive alongside Microsoft’s next video game console. Activision and Microsoft had initially hoped that the simultaneous launch of Modern Warfare 4 with the new Xbox console would have competed with Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 6 for gamers’ attention, though that will no longer be the case.

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Though the rumor should be taken with a fine grain of salt, The Ghost of Hope stated that Treyarch could launch a standalone Call of Duty: Zombies game, in addition to Modern Warfare 4, later this year. The leaker claimed that the standalone CoD: Zombies game could receive multi-year support, though annual Call of Duty releases with a campaign and multiplayer would still be in the cards. The Ghost of Hope added that Microsoft wants Activision to be “more agile” with its game releases, and less attached to the notion of annual launches. With extraction shooters like ARC Raiders and Bungie’s upcoming title Marathon still proving popular, it remains to be seen how the new development pipeline will affect Call of Duty in the future.

Everything To Know About The Next-Gen Xbox So Far

As for Microsoft’s rumored next-gen Xbox console, the system was initially planned to arrive in late 2026. However, the ongoing RAM and SSD shortage crisis, which has affected the entire gaming and tech industries across the board, has forced Microsoft to push back its next-gen console launch out of 2026 entirely. The next-gen Xbox, which has no official name as of this writing, is said to be powered by a custom AMD accelerated processing unit (APU) that won’t be ready for launch until 2027 at the earliest. Additionally, the new Xbox console would further lean into Microsoft’s plans to make Windows 11 the go-to gaming hub for its audience, with potential compatibility for PC storefronts like Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store built into the new console.

Despite the 2027 release window that has floated about on social media, Microsoft has not committed to a hard 2027 launch for the next-gen Xbox. With the RAM crisis showing no signs of slowing down, pricing and release date information for the next-gen Xbox has been difficult to pin down. Given that Microsoft’s timeline is still subject to change, time will tell when the next-gen Xbox will be fully revealed and released to consumers worldwide.