Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 closes the door to the PS4 and Xbox One: risky bet for Activision

Thirteen years is a long time. This is the age that the PS4 and Xbox One will have reached the day Activision officially ejects them from the franchise with Modern Warfare 4. The publisher refused to cut the cord well after most AAA studios, going so far as to rethink the game's installation size to fit them on aging hardware. The lock finally comes off.

According to a note from S&P analyst Neil Barbour, relayed by GamesIndustry.biz, this shift cuts the potential game market by 4.3%. Concretely, Modern Warfare 4 will target a global fleet of 147.5 million consoles, down 5.6% compared to the audience of Black Ops 7. And Black Ops 7, precisely, did not meet commercial expectations: the episode is regularly described as the sign of a lasting decline of the franchise. In short, the Activision tube is narrowing at both ends.

The Switch 2 as a consolation prize

To cushion the shock, Activision is bringing Call of Duty back to Nintendo, a first since 2013. A shift inherited from the ten-year agreement signed in 2022 between Microsoft and Nintendo, presented to regulators to push through the takeover of Activision Blizzard. Except that the 33.9 million Switch 2s expected at the end of 2026 will not be enough to absorb the 36 million PS4s and Xbox Ones which should still be active on the same date. Above all, the timing is cruel for gamers: Sony raised the price of the PS5 in March 2025, Microsoft increased its Xbox prices twice in 2025. Buying a recent machine has never been so expensive.

Modern Warfare 4 will be released on October 23, 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2, with cross-play and cross-progression between the four platforms. The Switch 2 version is developed natively by the Spanish studio Digital Legends, in partnership with Infinity Ward, and will support the Joy-Con 2 mouse mode.

To go further

Which console to choose between the Nintendo Switch, the Switch OLED or the Switch 2?

For anyone still playing Call of Duty on their old console, the verdict comes in one line: change gear or change games. Activision will have lasted longer than most before slamming the door; Thirteen years is already almost two generations.

Activision is not content with closing the door to Modern Warfare 4: Warzone will also disappear from the PS4 and Xbox One. The phase-out of services begins on June 4, with a permanent shutdown coinciding with the launch of Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 in October. Concretely, players who remain on these machines lose both pillars of the franchise at the same time.