Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III: Game marks the initial release in the series following Microsoft’s significant acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Activision Blizzard’s game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and Microsoft’s Xbox One controller are set up in Denver, Colorado, U.S.
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Activision Blizzard’s latest installment in the popular Call of Duty video game series faced criticism due to its expedited development, lasting only half the time of previous iterations, as per sources familiar with the development process. The game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, released shortly after Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision. Critics voiced concerns about the rushed storyline, a departure from the typical three-year development cycle for Call of Duty games. Insiders revealed that a significant portion of Modern Warfare III was developed in under a year and a half, leading to stress among the development team. Despite the negative reviews, Call of Duty remains a vital asset for Activision, having generated over $30 billion in revenue over two decades.
Developers, while acknowledging the challenges of the shortened development cycle, hope that the corporate owners consider the circumstances before passing judgment on the game’s reception.
The rushed development of this year’s game was prompted by the need to fill a gap in the release schedule caused by the delay of another Call of Duty title initially planned for 2023. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III was initially presented to Sledgehammer Games as an expansion to the previous year’s title but evolved into a full sequel during development, as reported by Bloomberg.
An Activision spokesperson denied that Modern Warfare III was initially conceived as an expansion, asserting it was always intended as a “premium game.” However, more than a dozen current and former Call of Duty developers contradicted this, stating they were initially informed it was an expansion and only later learned it would be a full sequel.
Aaron Halon, the studio head of Sledgehammer Games, acknowledged in an interview that some team members may have believed it was an expansion due to its unique status as a “new type of direct sequel” allowing players to transfer their weapons and gear from the previous game.
Some Sledgehammer staff, who worked overtime to meet the tight deadline, expressed feeling betrayed as they were promised a more reasonable timeline after the release of their previous game, Call of Duty: Vanguard, developed under similar constraints.
Initially codenamed Jupiter, the project was conceived as a smaller-scale Modern Warfare spinoff set in Mexico for quicker development. However, Activision executives rebooted the story in the summer of the previous year, opting for a direct sequel to Modern Warfare 2 with a global scope centered on the villain Vladimir Makarov. This change disrupted the schedule, requiring the developers to complete the new campaign in approximately 16 months, marking the shortest development time for a new Call of Duty game in years.
The game’s narrative received negative reviews from major gaming outlets, with criticisms of hastiness and mediocrity. Despite potential negative impacts, analysts suggest that even a critical failure is unlikely to significantly alter the series in the coming years.
Sledgehammer’s Halon defended the game as a “labor of love” and emphasized the team’s dedication to delivering a vision that has been years in the making.
Analysts anticipate that a consistent decline in quality, starting with this game, might lead Microsoft, which acquired Activision, to reconsider its strategy or potentially reduce the annual release schedule that Call of Duty has followed since 2005.
After Call of Duty: Vanguard, Sledgehammer developers initially pitched a project codenamed Anvil set in the universe of the company’s futuristic 2014 game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. However, this project was shelved as the company was informed they were instead working on another Modern Warfare.
The nature of this new release was initially unclear, but it had ambitious plans, including an update to the popular zombies mode, multiple multiplayer maps, and a single-player campaign. The revelation that it would be a sequel to Modern Warfare II came later, impacting Sledgehammer’s staff due to the shortened development cycle.
Developers expressed frustration at having to seek feedback from executives at Infinity Ward, the Activision studio typically responsible for the Modern Warfare series. This process led to inefficiencies, with developers waiting for feedback and making significant changes based on directives from above.
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