Andy Laub

There was an interesting tidbit a few weeks ago that mentioned that beloved developer Infinity Ward (of COD 1, 2, and 4 fame) may possibly become the sole developer for the franchise.

Unfortunately, Activision, publisher of the series and holder of the license, denied the rumor, stating that in-house developer Treyarch (of COD 3) would continue to be the dev of alternating games.

This is kind of terrible.

Call of Duty 4, as I’ve gushed about before, is an amazing game. Amazing enough to be nominated for and/or receive Game of the Year awards almost universally. COD 3 was subpar compared to COD 2, and is even worse compared to the newest installment. Part of this is due to the switch to a modern setting versus World War 2, and part of it is that Infinity Ward just makes great games.

But Call of Duty 5, due out this year, is back to Treyarch, and what’s even more ridiculous, it’s once again set during WW2. The reasons for this are simple: Activision likes money, and COD is a franchise that sells. If you’re in it for the money, you’re going to settle for a series that alternates between good and great on a yearly basis as opposed to a continually great game that is released every two years. Unfortunately, this kind of thinking runs good franchises into the ground (Tony Hawk, for example), and Activision excels at that.

With that in mind, here’s an experiment that intrigues me. What if Infinity Ward stopped making COD games, leaving the franchise to Treyarch, and instead used the technology they’ve already developed to create a new, self-owned franchise with similar content? Presumably it would continue in the modern warfare vein and would play the same. I’m not clear on the specifics of the engine driving the game, so I don’t know what kind of access Infinity Ward has to it, or whether they would have to license it from Activision, but if it’s theirs, what’s to stop them from building COD 6 but calling it something else? You can’t trademark warfare.

From here we go to the process of publishing the game. It’s possible Activision would spurn Infinity Ward if they pulled something like this, but at the same time, knowing that IW’s games sell well might be enough to satiate them. If not, I’m sure EA or some other publisher would be more than happy to cash in on such an opportunity.

I’d also assume in this situation that the internet would once again prevail and gamers everywhere would rejoice that IW is putting out a new game, ignoring the fact that it’s not part of the COD series. I have a feeling that the politics behind it would be a mystery to nobody and that Infinity Ward would come out as a hero/underdog who stuck it to “the man”.

Meanwhile the COD franchise, under Treyarch’s command, languishes as it becomes “just another shooter”. No fanfare, just “wow, another one of these?” every time they release a new installment.

What this all comes down to is that the best thing Activision can do is give the franchise to Infinity Ward, or force Treyarch to up their game. Any other outcome (aside from the situation described before) and it’s the gamers who suffer.