Activision recently made the controversial decision to focus developer Toys for Bob's efforts on the Call of Duty: Warzone battle royale, relegating yet another one of its studios to its mega-popular first-person shooter franchise. This decision proved to be especially controversial as Toys for Bob had recently launched the critically-acclaimed Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, and so now the future of that franchise, as well as Spyro the Dragon, is in question.
With Toys for Bob's efforts being focused on Call of Duty: Warzone, it is now the ninth Activision studio to be working on the Call of Duty franchise in some capacity. Since there are so many Activision studios now working on Call of Duty, fans may have a hard time keeping track of who is doing what and may be curious about what these studios were making before they were relegated to the Call of Duty franchise.
Here are all of the Activision studios that are actively working on the Call of Duty franchise.
Activision Shanghai
Activision Shanghai is perhaps one of the lesser-known Call of Duty studios, and that's because its presence isn't really felt outside of China. Activision Shanghai is the studio behind the China-only Call of Duty Online free-to-play game, which includes a variety of content pulled from various games in the Call of Duty franchise. Activision Shanghai shares Call of Duty Online's development responsibilities with Raven Software.
Beenox
Beenox was acquired by Activision in 2005, with the studio put to work on various licensed gaming projects. Its first project under the Activision umbrella was the Bee Movie game, but it would later go on to develop a number of Spider-Man video games, which is what it's perhaps best known for. Beenox also helped develop games in the Skylanders and Guitar Hero series before it was put on the Call of Duty franchise with 2015's Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.
Since then, Beenox has served in a supporting role for numerous Call of Duty titles, as well as other Activision projects, like Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2. More recently, Beenox handled the PC port of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, giving the studio a bit more responsibility than it has with some of the other Call of Duty games that it's helped develop for.
Demonware
Demonware is mainly focused on developing matchmaking and other online technology that's used in the Call of Duty franchise for its online multiplayer modes. It's not a game development studio per se, but it is still owned by Activision and plays a hugely important role in each Call of Duty installment.
High Moon Studios
Prior to supporting the Call of Duty franchise, High Moon Studios put out the original IP Darkwatch, which earned relatively strong reviews at the time of its release in 2005. It then worked on a variety of licensed games, including the well-received Transformers: War for Cybertron and its sequel, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. High Moon Studios also developed the 2013 Deadpool game that earned somewhat mixed reviews, but still managed to cultivate a cult following.
After the launch of Deadpool, High Moon Studios suffered layoffs, and the studio was then positioned as a support studio for Call of Duty and other Activision titles, like Destiny and Destiny 2. High Moon recently supported both Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare while they were in development.
Infinity Ward
While most of the video game studios assigned to the Call of Duty franchise previously worked on other products, Infinity Ward is an exception to the rule. Infinity Ward has worked exclusively on Call of Duty games since the first Call of Duty launched in 2003, and it has gone on to produce some of the most innovative and popular games in the Call of Duty franchise. Infinity Ward is one of the Call of Duty franchise's lead developers, having developed Call of Duty 2, the original Modern Warfare trilogy, and 2019's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare reboot.
Infinity Ward certainly has an impressive track record when it comes to the Call of Duty franchise, but it's worth pointing out that the studio also released a couple of the most poorly-received Call of Duty games as well. Call of Duty: Ghosts and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare are both generally considered to be lowpoints in the long-running franchise, though Infinity Ward seems to have gotten things back on track with the Modern Warfare reboot, which has proven to be quite popular with fans.
Raven Software
Raven Software is one of the oldest studios under the Activision umbrella, having been established all the way back in 1990. Raven Software has developed all kinds of games since its formation in the early 90s, though it has specialized in first-person shooter titles. Raven Software's last completely original game was 2010's Singularity, which didn't exactly earn strong sales, but was generally well-received by both fans and critics.
After decades of releasing original IP, licensed games, and more, Raven Software was moved to the Call of Duty franchise. In 2010, Raven supported Treyarch in the development of the first Call of Duty: Black Ops, and also assisted with developing the game's DLC. Raven Software would then have a supporting role in nearly every Call of Duty game released since then, but it has since been given a more significant role in the franchise.
With 2020's Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Raven Software was allowed to lead development on the game's single-player campaign, marking the studio's first single-player campaign since Singularity released 10 years earlier. Black Ops Cold War's campaign earned relatively strong reviews for the Call of Duty franchise, and now Raven is at the forefront of supporting the Call of Duty: Warzone battle royale.
Sledgehammer Games
Sledgehammer Games was founded by developers who previously worked on the Dead Space franchise, though the studio has never really delved into horror. Instead it has served as the third lead developer for the Call of Duty franchise alongside Infinity Ward and Treyarch, developing titles such as Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Call of Duty: WW2, while also assisting in the development of various other Call of Duty titles as well.
Sledgehammer Games is believed to be the lead developer for the 2021 Call of Duty game. 2021's Call of Duty has yet to be revealed in an official capacity, but reliable leakers have said that the game is called Call of Duty: Vanguard, and it will once again feature a World War 2 setting. Whether or not there's any truth to those claims remains to be seen, but hopefully more information comes to light sooner rather than later.
Toys for Bob
Like Raven Software, Toys for Bob has been around for quite some time, having been formed in 1989. While under the Activision umbrella, Toys for Bob is perhaps best known for its work on the Skylanders franchise and eventually Crash Bandicoot, having developed Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time as well as Spyro Reignited Trilogy.
While many had assumed that Toys for Bob was going to make a new Spyro the Dragon game next, the studio is instead working on Call of Duty: Warzone, serving as yet another support studio for the popular battle royale game.
Treyarch
Prior to working on the Call of Duty franchise, Treyarch mainly worked on licensed games, including the video game adaptations of the Toby Maguire Spider-Man movies. The peak of Treyarch's work on the Spider-Man franchise arguably came with the Spider-Man 2 video game adaptation, which gave players an open world and the ability to swing around it freely as Spider-Man, features that are still seen in Spider-Man video games to this day.
Treyarch is one of the lead developers for the Call of Duty franchise nowadays, ever since it was entrusted with the first non-Infinity Ward developed main series Call of Duty game, 2006's Call of Duty 3. Treyarch would then go on to make Call of Duty: World at War, where it innovated the franchise's Zombies mode. Treyarch-developed Call of Duty games then became associated with the Zombies game mode, which has been a staple of every installment since.
Due to some behind-the-scenes issues, Treyarch was pulled in to developing Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, mainly developing that game's multiplayer and Zombies mode. Presumably, Treyarch will get a couple of years to make its next project while Sledgehammer makes 2021's Call of Duty game and Infinity Ward makes 2022's Call of Duty, whatever that may end up being.