A Former Call of Duty Dev Thinks the Franchise Should Be Re-Built
A former Call of Duty dev has taken to social media to let the gaming community know what he currently thinks of the franchise. Robert Bowling was the Creative Strategist of Infinity Ward. He worked for the studio between 2006 and 2012. According to him, devs need to re-build the franchise.
“It is time to build from the studs up,” Bowling wrote. He believes that the franchise needs more than just “iteration.” He is convinced that what Call of Duty requires is “revitalization.” He seems to be reminding the devs to bring the focus back to core gameplay, instead of content gateways.
“We used to treat our players like a community, and not consumers,” Bowling continued. “We brought them in to the fold for map feedback, not market feedback.”
It is a known fact among gamers all over the world that the Call of Duty franchise makes a lot of money. All of its major titles have been commercial successes. Activision Blizzard’s shareholders and top bosses are expectedly content with its model. However, devs are seemingly getting more and more distant from its original foundation. Devs are spending a lot of money on casual first content and flashy marketing. However, this seems to push passionate CoD players to the side.
“It is obvious that the people at the very top of the CoD franchise are not interested in making a great video game,” one fan complained. “Annual releases are an illusion—blatant reskins—to sell more product.”
Many Call of Duty fans are convinced that the devs “are only focused on making it good enough to keep this cycle going.”
After his stint over at Infinity Ward, Bowling moved a bit within the gaming industry. At the moment, he is the Studio Head at Midnight Society. This studio is relatively new to the business as Bowling hopes to “usher in the new era of online PvP multiplayer titles.” He is working with Quinn DelHoyo from Halo Infinite and Dr. Disrespect as the team’s leader.
Do you think they should re-build the franchise? Let us know in the comments below.