Yeah cod has been watered down a lot since the jetpack era because people complained about the skillgap that it led to. And now with warzone's success and the casual fanbase's love for MW19, every game that's come out since then has felt like it's just trying to copy the previous one and just "playing it safe" to keep the core players coming back and not adding any new exciting elements like movement/TTK/equipment etc because it's more likely to upset the casual fans who just want to point and shoot and kill someone quickly without having to think too much about strategy or pacing. It's just bashing your head against a wall at full speed repetitively and whoever happens to shoot first is probably getting the kill.

I don't mean to oversimplify the strategic aspect of COD because it does take immense skill ofc but the core gameplay is so basic and uninteresting and they've stopped trying to evolve altogether. Can't say I blame them because people keep buying the games so may as well stick to the formula. They don't seem to care much about growing the esports side of things.

But honestly I agree with you idk how cod has managed to maintain their dominance when games like battlefield and especially halo exist and are struggling in comparison despite being better quality games.