Call of Duty 2026: no support for last-gen consoles

The long-awaited next entry in the Call of Duty franchise, reportedly set to launch in October 2026, will not be available on last-gen consoles such as PlayStation 4 (PS4) and Xbox One. Activision officially confirmed the decision on May 4, 2026, marking the first time since 2013’s Call of Duty: Ghosts that the series will skip an entire console generation.

Changes to console support

The move to drop support for PS4 and Xbox One comes down to technological progress and a desire to improve the gameplay experience. Players have often complained that Call of Duty performance on these older systems does not meet expectations. The PS4, which launched in 2013, will be around 13 years old by the time the next Call of Duty releases. This marks a major shift, as most previous Call of Duty titles were released on these systems, including Black Ops 7 in 2025.

Community reaction

The decision to leave last-gen consoles behind has sparked mixed reactions across the gaming community. While some players are glad the series can take advantage of current-gen hardware, others are disappointed that they will need to upgrade their systems to play the latest releases. Activision has confirmed that gamers still using these older consoles will need to upgrade in order to play future Call of Duty games.

The future of the franchise

Rumors suggest the next Call of Duty game may be called Modern Warfare 4. For Activision, the shift also brings new pricing challenges, as both PS5 and Xbox Series X/S have seen price increases amid an ongoing shortage of DRAM and GPUs, making an upgrade a costly move for players who want to keep up.

Patch notes and updates

Alongside the major changes to console support, Call of Duty patch notes continue to draw attention. The latest patch notes for Black Ops 7 Season 3 were longer than most historical documents, showing just how much the game has grown in scale and complexity.

Activision has also continued its annual Military Appreciation Month tradition. This year’s Call of Duty Endowment DLC, called the Navigator: Tracer Pack, is inspired by real military veterans, including former Navy SEAL and astronaut Chris Cassidy. 100% of the net proceeds from the pack will go to the Call of Duty Endowment, which supports veterans. It’s clear that Activision remains committed to supporting the armed forces through in-game content during this special month.

With the upcoming launch of the new Call of Duty in 2026, fans will need to adapt to the changes and prepare to invest in newer hardware to take part in the franchise’s latest experiences.