New reports suggest that the upcoming Call of Duty 2025 title is still being developed for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Not sure what Activision is cooking up but this doesn’t sound good. We know that developers have to balance new features and supporting older hardware, but the old gen consoles are a decade old at this point.
As we move further into the current console generation, the cracks in this approach are becoming more and more impossible to ignore. If newer titles like CoD 2025 are going to sacrifice features, then is it really worth it? Even the new Avalon Warzone map may be delayed or cancelled because of this.
Activision needs to drop support for old gen consoles
Warzone players have been looking forward to the release of Avalon, the new battle-royale map. But if this new leak from X user @TheGhostOfHope is to be believed, we may not see it at all. The leak suggests that Avalon’s late 2025 release date has potentially been postponed, or cancelled entirely, “because of Verdansk’s return.”
Grain of Salt: Avalon may potentially be postponed from its original late 2025 release or completely canned for Warzone because of Verdansk’s return. pic.twitter.com/zcHBoFnfML
— Hope (@TheGhostOfHope) February 27, 2025
And then there’s the new report by CharlieIntel that the Call of Duty 2025 title will still be released on last-generation consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. That has immediately gotten fans questioning if current gen games should still be developed with last gen consoles in mind. Doesn’t it just hold back what developers can do?
Despite being over a decade old, the PS4 and Xbox One are still in millions of homes. Sony and Microsoft extended their support for these consoles longer than expected, mainly due to the problems during the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. According to an estimate made by GamingBolt in 2024, millions of gamers still log into their PS4s and Xbox Ones.
Call of Duty 2025 could still release on PS4 and Xbox One, per sources. Supporting last-gen in 2025 is a wild decision, but the game is in development for the old consoles from what we’ve heard.
This may be a reason as to why there can’t be two big maps in Warzone at same time. pic.twitter.com/mfkmOR65Fz
— CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) February 27, 2025
Should new games cater to the massive last-gen audience or push gaming forward with the full capabilities of modern hardware? It seems to us like Activision is choosing the former. And as much as it has problems, we can kinda understand it. This massive install base is likely why Activision is hesitant to abandon last-gen, despite the compromises it forces on new games.
The Series S has been accused of holding back current gen, old gen is probably worse
The biggest issue with continued last-gen support is the technological limitations. PS4 and Xbox One hardware simply can’t keep up with the new technologies that we’ve seen in the last decade. Features like ray tracing, high frame rates, and larger, more detailed maps are either downgraded or outright impossible on older systems.
Activision’s decision to continue supporting last-gen consoles may seem like a way to keep the game accessible to a larger audience, but it could backfire in the long run. If Call of Duty 2025 is forced to make sacrifices in graphics, performance, and map design, we know what the online hate train can get like these days.
At some point, Activision will need to make a decision. If Call of Duty 2026 or 2027 finally drops last-gen support, we may finally see the franchise fully invest into newer technology. Larger and more detailed maps, improved AI, better physics, and faster load times could become the new standard. At what point does supporting old hardware become a burden rather than a benefit?
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
