This year's Call of Duty will have an 'entirely new campaign'

Activision took something of a risk with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 by dropping the single-player campaign in favor of a purely multiplayer experience. It worked out pretty well, but even so the publisher said during today's earnings call that this year's Call of Duty—and yes, there's going to be one—will see the return of a campaign.

"It's going to feature an entirely new campaign, a huge and expansive multiplayer world, and of course some fun co-op gameplay," Activision president Rob Kostich said during the call.

Activision Blizzard CFO Dennis Durkin also teased the game, in the vaguest possible sense, saying that it "will appeal broadly to both existing and new fans," and that it represents "a great step forward in the franchise that is also rooted in some of the franchise's most important history."

However, while Call of Duty will be Activision's "main driver" for 2019, he warned that it may not reach the lofty heights of Black Ops 4: "We have high expectations for the game, but for modeling purposes we are conservatively planning on up-front Q4 unit sales to be lower than Black Ops 4."

After enjoying a record-setting year in 2018, Blizzard confirmed today that it will lay off approximately eight percent of its workforce.

PRODUCTS

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.