Activision Did Not Want CoD: Modern Warfare
Activision wanted more World War II. We're glad Infinity Ward didn't.
It's hard to imagine that any publisher wouldn't want a stunning shooter series such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in their stable, but it turns out that Activision originally rejected the idea.
"With Call of Duty 2, we were dead set against it being World War 2," Infinity Ward boss Vince Zampella told the Official PlayStation Magazine, as reported by CVG. "And something I'll add to that, Activision also did not want Modern Warfare. They thought working on a modern game was risky and [thought], 'oh my god you can't do that, it's crazy!' They were doing market research to show us we were wrong the whole time."
"We had to fight for everything," chimed in CoD project lead, Jason West. "They wanted it to be World War 2. Again."
Of course, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ended up being one of the biggest hits of 2007 and its sequel, Modern Warfare 2 will easily be one of the biggest for 2009.
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Big props to I.W. on ignoring the so called "research" and pushing forward anyway.
I'm looking forward to spending most of my gaming time during winter break with MW2.
By the same token I will never play it but would have played a WWII shooter.
"Of course, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ended up being one of the biggest hits of 2007 and its sequel, Modern Warfare 2 will easily be one of the biggest for 2009."
Hell yea!
Ugh if COD4 was another WW2....... I wonder what sold more COD WAW or COD4. Modern Warfare Rocked, and I can't wait for MW2. Good call by the Project Team.
Shows that execs have no clue what us plebs want.
Activision is like a wannabe EA now
If i had to pick one I would buy Battlefield Bad Company 2 but I probably won't pick up either.
I'm patiently waiting for BF3.
The thing about Cod 4 is that it didn't paint anyone in a real bad light. Yeah you had "terrorist" but they weren't all from a specific country.. nor did they mention which country the war was going on in even though you could probably guess.. Sometimes edgy is the best way to go.
Now if the MMO companies would try to think on their own instead of just copying all of the previous "fantasy" titles before it, we might start a nice trend here.
Occasionally you get a title outside of the typical genre (Eve, City of Heroes) but there are so many other areas of fiction already out there developers refuse to touch. They keep going with fantasy "because that's what the research tells us to do."
Props to anyone who is willing to take that chance and make something different.
Shows that execs have no clue what us plebs want.
Exactly. This statement reaches far beyond the entertainment industry as well.
It's written (especially the title) as if they didn't want the final product COD4:MW, as if the product was bad. That's not true, they simply wanted it set in WW2. If the same team developed the game WW2 it would probably also be a great game. WW2 games needed a break though, so I'm glad they didn't.
Actually, the entire reason I never bought CoD: MW was the modern part. Guess I'm odd...
Love COD4 but would welcome a remake of COD2 with the achievements and new lobby system. COD2 is still my favourite in the series .
My guess is that Activision wanted to stick with a politically safe WW2 story rather than let the developers have creative freedom with the tumultuous political climate of today.
As far as my money goes, I'm way more interested in modern warfare than WW2 warfare. I didn't even bother with WaW despite it being complete gameplay-wise. The WW2 shooter genre is completely oversaturated as far as I'm concerned. I'll stick with what's in there and not even bother with anything new.
Well Activision wasn't asking the right people because myself and a lot of people are so friggin sick of WW2 games at this point. I wasn't that interested in WW2 in the first place so why would I want to play the same basic story yet again? There is a reason I didn't play CoD5:WaW.
I still take CoD:WaW over MW any day though...have both installed. MW is most for my brother now.
There's only so much you can mine out of WWII. Kudos to Infinity Ward to trying something new.
Why would you want to base video games now on something that happened 40-80 years ago when you have the ability to put them into todays weapons???? Kinda silly if you ask me. Although i think WW2 games still have a nitvh, but they need to be more creative in their game designs and better AI.
First person shooter games never said anything to me.
I know I'm probably gonna get a lot of thumbs down on this comment, but I just don't understand why a game like this would be popular...
I have more fun with Nintendo games, and racing games, or third person shooters.
Just shows publishers don't know shit. I'm actually disgusted now reading how dumb Activision was and probably how every other publisher is. That's why we get franchises that get run into the ground instead of fresh games because publishers don't like taking risks. And the sad thing is Modern Warfare wasn't that big of a risk. In fact, it was a long overdue and logical evolution of the series.
COD4 is easily the best COD game in the series..Actually I didnt like the COD series much untill COD4. After reading this article I love Infinity ward even more now.To celebreation on some good news Im going to go play some COD4.
CoD-check, CoD2-check, CoD4-(woohoo)check, WoW-check, MW2 - can't freakin' wait!
I did love CoD2, back in the day, played it online until the arrival of Modern Warfare, which was the first game that actually made me want to create a clan. Which I did. Kudos to Infinity Ward - hopefully we'll be porting the clan to the new installment ASAP.
Bah who cares, CoD 4 2 will still suck ass just like the first one did. Second biggest game purchase mistake on my part. Number one will be getting the collectors edition of age of conan.
Wow, your taste in games must suck, considering that you actually purchased Age of Conan. Even wasted money on the collectors edition. AND THEN YOU TOLD EVERYONE!! LOL!!! Looks like those are your top three mistakes right there.
Bah who cares, CoD 4 2 will still suck ass just like the first one did. Second biggest game purchase mistake on my part. Number one will be getting the collectors edition of age of conan.
Age of conan... If i was you I would keep that information secret.
Ugh if COD4 was another WW2....... I wonder what sold more COD WAW or COD4. Modern Warfare Rocked, and I can't wait for MW2. Good call by the Project Team.
Not to mention COD WAW was NOTHING like the previous CoD games that were so popular. The game play/feel just wasn't the same at all. Graphically, it was pretty. But it just wasn't the same as the MoH/CoD series was.
Lol age of Conan....
HAHAHA Dude I was thinking the same thing abotu Age of Conan. What a freaking waste of time and money... I coulda spent that at the strip club
I coulda spent that at the strip club
Talk about a waste of time & money.
You get 20 or 30 minutes of "Yay! Giggle, Blush, Oops I wet myself"... and you still go home single, lonely, and a loser with less cash.
For the record, I do play Age of Conan, and actually enjoy it.
COD5: The Civil War
COD6: Roman Empire
COD7: The Cola Wars of 2025
COD8: Console Wars PS vs XB Blood Hell
COD9: Battlefield of the year 3000
I don't know what Activision was thinking because from way back I wished they would have a COD set in modern times. A lot of people are not that into WW2 era warfare.