Episode 605: Call of Duty Is Done With Black Ops — It Should Copy WARDOGS

Call of Duty is done with Black Ops, and Modern Warfare 4 is the "epic conclusion" of the Task Force 141 story. We think it's the smartest call Activision has made in years. It only matters if the next series changes the game as much as jetpacks did, and a new name and new villains won't do that. We also make a prediction: Call of Duty will copy WARDOGS. It happened with PUBG and Warzone, then with Tarkov and DMZ, and now WARDOGS has sold over 2 million copies and peaked at 428,000 concurrent players on Steam. Raz guarantees Infinity Ward is already being told to build it. Also covered: WARDOGS one week into early access, the drill-spam meta, the mortar complaints, why we still think no monetization is a mistake, and the Bulkhead CEO crunch controversy (we don't see the problem). Then GTA 6 Online reportedly landing in 2027, why the PC version probably comes with it, and what GTA 6 does to MW4 and WARDOGS in November. We finish with WoW Forever, Aion 2, and an investigation into whether any elves have round ears. Raz still wins either way. 0:00 - Intro: Big Jacob of Nibiru 2:05 - Patreon hangout & Death by AI 6:01 - WARDOGS one week in: 2M sold, 428K peak 9:24 - Balance complaints & the drill meta 13:40 - There Will Be Blood is overrated 15:01 - Bulkhead devs on Twitter & the loadout fix 17:16 - Mike Tyson's impregnable defense 20:09 - You either love a game or you're good at it 23:29 - No monetization is still a mistake 30:38 - Still in the honeymoon phase 33:07 - WARDOGS CEO crunch controversy 38:26 - Treyarch is done with Black Ops 42:20 - CoD needs a jetpack-level shake-up 46:33 - Future setting vs. grounded CoD 49:24 - Prediction: CoD will copy WARDOGS 57:08 - DMZ2 is going to fail 1:01:41 - CoD fans: don't get excited yet 1:03:53 - Wolverine hand-holding & NICKMERCS on Tarkov 1:06:30 - Why extraction shooters must be hardcore 1:10:22 - Mads Mikkelsen & MW4 1:11:07 - Does Raz come back to CoD? 1:15:53 - GTA 6 Online in 2027 1:21:52 - GTA 6 PC will launch with Online 1:24:15 - What GTA 6 does to MW4 & WARDOGS 1:30:47 - WoW Forever enters beta 1:32:45 - The elf investigation 1:34:49 - Aion 2 1:37:49 - Outro _Note: timestamps may be slightly misaligned on podcast apps (but not on YouTube) due to dynamic ads._ The podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and ad-free & early access versions - as well as bonus episodes - are available to all of our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot) supporters. We stream the podcast live on our YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast) every Saturday morning at ~9 o'clock Pacific Time. We typically start the stream 30 minutes early to answer viewer questions, banter, and chat. Links for everything are below. Thanks for checking us out! 🔹Streaming schedule (Pacific time): 🔸Saturday ~9 AM: Gaming news and stories of the week 🔹The Dropshot: 🔸Website: https://www.thedropshot.com 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDropshotPod 🔸Discord: https://discord.gg/B4Nsarq 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast 🔸Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot 🔸Donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YVR98VF4S945G 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedropshotpodcast/ 🔸TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedropshotpodcast 🔹Razinon: 🔸Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/razinon 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/razinon 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/razinonttv 🔹Jakedown: 🔸Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jakedown_ 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jakedown #TheDropshot #GamingPodcast #PodcastClips Gaming topics: #WARDOGS #CallOfDuty #BlackOps #ModernWarfare4 #Warzone #DMZ2 #Bulkhead #GTA6 #GTA6Online #Treyarch #WoWForever #Aion2 #GamingNews #HotTake #Prediction #GamingTakes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices