The lights are on
Activision and Infinity Ward have made headlines over the last few hours starting with the sudden departure of IW studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West later followed by claims of insubordination and talks with rival publishers. With all the chaos that's ensued, the question on everyone's mind is: What's going to happen to Call of Duty?
We have finally received official word from Activision that details future plans for the franchise. It has been confirmed that Zampella and West are no longer with the studio. Activision's chief technology officer Steve Pierce and head of production Steve Ackrich will lead the studio on an interim basis. In addition, a new Call of Duty game has been announced for a 2011 release with no word on Infinity Ward's involvement. Sledgehammer Games, led by Glen A. Schofield and Michael Condrey of Dead Space fame, will develop a new action-adventure title in the Call of Duty franchise.
In addition, Activision has announced a new Treyarch-developed Call of Duty title to release this fall. Finally, the long-awaited DLC for Modern Warfare 2 is currently under Infinity Ward's development with no set release date for the two map packs.
"2010 will be another important year for the Call of Duty franchise," stated Mike Griffith, president and CEO of Activision Publishing. "In addition to continued catalog sales, new downloadable content from Infinity Ward and a new Call of Duty release, we are excited about the opportunity to bring the franchise to new geographies, genres and players."
What are your thoughts on the future of the franchise?
In case you missed all the events prior to the announcement, catch up here.
I'll pour one out for Call of Duty. As we know it, at least.
Eh, I stopped caring about CoD when Modern Warfare 1 came out.
But the thought of Schofield making CoD? I might just play that.
wow... activision has lost all my respect
I foresee this franchise going downhill very soon...
WHAT?? Infinity Ward created call of duty!! Come on activision..... call of duty is going to start sucking... I don't want a crappy one every year!!
thats crazy that they got rid of those two. mw is one of the biggest frachises around right now and it makes a ton of money why would they let those guys go? i hope this dosent mean that mw is going to suck now and i hope we get to see the end of the story still!
This, ladies and gentlemen, is how you kill the biggest gaming franchise of the last year.
Isn't the plan with Activision franchises generally to "milk it for all it's worth?"
Wasnt there an article posted here a while back about someone here running into schofield and schofield said he was working on another big thing? Could this be that big thing?
so then the cod catalog will be at 8 by 2011? *yawn* just what i thought i was missing was an FPS so thanks for making 2 more..
Wow . . . I feel bad for the people working at Infinity Ward, and for the two senior employees. C'mon, Activision, BAD move!!!!!!
I hate to say it, but Call of Duty without Infinity Ward just isn't Call of Duty. IF developed COD, you will be sorely missed
now all they have to do is put in a gutar. call of duty hero
As if I didn't dislike Actvision enough already. What did Vince Zampella and Jason West even do to constitute insubordination?
Really Activision? This is probably the dumbest move you could make. MW is nothing without Infinity Ward.
Wow...I don't really care so much about the COD franchise, but this just proves what kind of publisher Activision is...
call of duty is going to tern into the same thing the hero games have garbage.
Bite the hand that feeds.
I should have bought MW2, as it'll be the last great COD game. Actually, I still can. Way to kill a franchise Activision, I hope you realize you just lost a shitload of money. Well Infinity Ward is gone now, COD is forever going to suck.
If anyone besides Infinity Ward makes the next Call of Duty (apart from Treyarch's next entry) I will die.
Literally die