Call of Duty should abandon its single-player campaigns

With nearly 20 years of annual releases, there’s only been one notable example of a time when Call of Duty ditched its single-player campaign. Every other entry has maintained a core package of campaign, multiplayer, and a third mode based on the specific sub-series, such as zombies or spec-ops. It was what was expected of games from CoD’s early days all the way up through most of the last generation. Anything less, and players would feel like they were being cheated or scammed. That’s despite the fact that data has shown for years now that a minor fraction of the player base even touches the single-player mode, let alone finishes it.

Call of Duty campaigns are, for the most part, excellent. There are obviously fluctuations in quality, and your preference for the setting and time period will weigh on your enjoyment, but there are only a few that I would actually classify as “bad.” So, why then would I be calling for Black Ops 6 to be the final campaign in the franchise? There are a handful of reasons, but only two that I feel are sufficient enough to make my case. Here’s why I think Call of Duty should to ditch its single-player campaigns once and for all.

Campaigns are a time and money-sink

Something has to give to maintain the release cadence

Call of Duty has been the poster child for annualized game releases alongside sports franchises like Madden. If there’s one thing you can count on in gaming, it’s a new Call of Duty game coming out every year (even when it probably shouldn’t). Activision has maintained this level of output and general quality by throwing more and more teams into the CoD machine. Eventually, that system is going to break down for one reason or another. We’ve had some close calls already, which resulted in the worst received games in the franchise, but with the way development is going now, it isn’t likely that it will be able to recover if that happens again.

It can’t be understated how difficult and time-consuming even a Call of Duty campaign is to make. All that scripting, level design, cinematics, and testing is a huge investment. The results have created some of the most epic and controversial moments in gaming, but they aren’t exactly moving the needle for most players.

Even in years where the campaigns are average or bad, the discourse rarely lingers on that for long. The community is always most interested in the multiplayer suite, talking about maps, balance, loadouts, perks, and more. That’s where millions of hours are racked up for the game, not the campaign. It’s also where Activision wants your attention so it can sell you battle passes and microtransactions. The campaign is a vestigial organ at this point — it’s only around to placate the portion of the audience that would make a fuss if it was absent, regardless of whether or not they would even play it themselves.

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So long as it’s marketed clearly and early, Call of Duty can justify killing off its campaigns. If that sacrifice is necessary for solid multiplayer modes at launch, deep zombies, and quality warzone content, then it will be forgiven within the release cycle. Plenty of people will express outrage, but as I’ve seen with past examples of CoD boycotts, it’s generally all bark and no bite.

Great campaigns are being wasted

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To be clear, I do enjoy most Call of Duty campaigns. They’re typically fun roller coaster experiences full of absurd setpieces and exaggerated drama, which I find great fun in as a palate cleanser. As a mostly offline gamer, they’re the reason I pick up CoD most years. The fact that so few people bother to experience them is the biggest tragedy of this entire scenario.

Call of Duty has such an unshakable reputation as the “dude-bro online shooter” game that it’s completely entrenched in that identity. To be fair, it enjoys one of the largest audiences in that space. So, it isn’t a detriment, but its reputation definitely pushes away most people who would enjoy those campaigns.

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I say it’s time Call of Duty broke off its single-player modes from the core games and let them exist as individual games divorced from the baggage that comes with the CoD title. It’s also the perfect excuse to break the annualized mold — let the multiplayer packages remain yearly if need be, or slip in a new single-player game to give those teams a year off to catch up and focus on updates.

No longer tethered to the main series or multiplayer, these campaign teams stretch their legs and really get creative. It’s exactly what happened when Respawn was formed after breaking away and made the incredible Titanfall 2 campaign. This split is inevitable, unless Activision is willing to commit every single team it has to this one franchise, and will ultimately be healthier for the series, its developers, and the players.