Call of Duty publisher Activision is well aware of the growing popularity surrounding the Battle Royale genre, especially with the success of games like
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and
Fortnite, and it sounds like
Black Ops 4 could hop on the trend.
Investment firm Oppenheimer raised its forecast for Activision Blizzard stock following a recent meeting with executives from the video game behemoth. The key takeaway, it seems, was that Activision is
"keenly aware" of how other publishers have benefited from incorporating the popular "battle royale" genre into their games. It certainly sounds like Activision may be willing to do the same with
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, which is being developed at Treyarch.
Oppenheimer emphasized, "Management reminded investors that the company is a faster follower," which clearly suggests Activision may look towards incorporating some form of battle royale in its future titles. Whether or not we'll see it in
Black Ops 4, which is due out later this year, remains to be seen.
Activision isn't the first major publisher to talk about the battle royale trend. Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two also said it was "really interesting" to see games like
PUBG and
Fortnite rise in popularity, while adding it wants its studios to work on original ideas rather than being "derivative" and following a trend. That said, it was previously rumored that Rockstar Games'
Red Dead Redemption 2 could have a form of battle royale incorporated in its online mode.
Activision
confirmed Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will release this year on October 12 for PC, Xbox One, and PS4. The game's official reveal will take place on May 17, perhaps providing us with more details on new modes.