'Activision did not want Modern Warfare' - Infinity Ward

Call of Duty CCO Vince Zampella says publisher pushed for best-selling shooter franchise to remain in WWII period, PC-only.

Reporting on its April-June fiscal quarter in August, Activision said that revenues for the period surpassed $1 billion. The figure was bolstered in no small part by the unstoppable juggernaut that is Infinity Ward's acclaimed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which the publisher said has sold 14 million units worldwide since its release in November 2007 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, DS, and PC. (A Wii edition, titled Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare: Reflex, is due next month.)

This? Risky? Nah.

Considering Call of Duty 4's phenomenal success, it may come as a shock that Activision initially opposed Infinity Ward's decision to abandon World War II for a more contemporary setting. What's more, the publisher wasn't overly keen on bringing the developer's wares to consoles, either.

"Activision…did not want Modern Warfare," Infinity Ward chief creative officer Vince Zampella told Britain-based Official PlayStation Magazine in an interview, relayed by UK gaming site CVG. "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."

Call of Duty project lead Jason West went on to note, "We had to fight for everything. They wanted it to be World War II. Again."

In fact, Zampella said that Infinity Ward was ready to leave the WWII setting after the original Call of Duty, which received glowing reviews upon its release for the PC in 2003. Notably, Activision announced that it had acquired the Encino, California-based developer for an undisclosed sum one day after the original COD shipped in October of that year.

"With Call of Duty 2, we were dead set against it being World War II," Zampella said. "But Activision really wanted it, the compromise sort of being that we'd get some dev kits for consoles in exchange for doing a World War II game. We always wanted to be on consoles and Activision saw us as more of a PC developer."

Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on November 10, and according to Activision, as of August the game was already the most preordered title in the publisher's history. For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

590 Comments

  • remixbaby44

    Posted Dec 16, 2009 5:50 pm PT

    who else thinks that cod 7 will be more stealth oriented because of the lack of fighting in the cold war

  • AceOfSpades801

    Posted Nov 24, 2009 4:35 pm PT

    Fortunately for all of us IW decided to keep pushing for their vision for the direction of their development. I've played CoD 1 and a little of CoD 2 and enjoyed them. I'll eventually get to CoD 5 but have thoroughly enjoyed CoD 4 and MW2. Thanks to Activision for supporting a great developer and thanks to IW for being awesome!

  • huskerman34

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 4:15 pm PT

    waw was a real good game. I think they should add vehicle battle in campaign and multiplayer modes. IT would be cool flying a p 51 mustang , german luftwafer, and a japanese zero.

  • xXxXsnipaXxXx

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 3:05 pm PT

    Good job Infinity Ward. Going against the rules to make 2 of the top 10 FPS games of all time. Personally, after the ENORMOUS success of Call Of Duty 4, I would've given Infinity Ward the main job for the CoD series, but WaW was good, not GREAT, but good, so if Treyarch can make a bigger, better CoD 7, then I think Infinity Ward has some competition, because Mw3 (if it's going to come out), is probably going to release in 2011. If I was the CEO of Infinity Ward, I would start working on Mw3 NOW, so you get 2 years to make an awesome game.

    Thats my 2 cents.

  • rangeraa

    Posted Nov 17, 2009 6:49 pm PT

    wheres the gore in MW2?

  • aaronfhff123

    Posted Nov 15, 2009 6:54 pm PT

    Modern warfare would be better than world at war if it had bullet wounds and dismemberment. Modern guns are more fun but not if you cant blow holes in people. F**** infinity ward for keeping carnage out of modern warfare 2....i guess ill have to wait for call of duty 7

  • buffdaddy69

    Posted Nov 14, 2009 9:12 am PT

    WaW was brutal in a good way. DOnt care what anyone says. It never gets old blowing a n00bs legs off with a shotgun.

  • OB-47

    Posted Nov 10, 2009 10:32 am PT

    Activision said this BEFORE it release. But still, Activision is a bit selfish

  • ttamdude

    Posted Nov 9, 2009 9:41 am PT

    Keep in mind that activision opposed the modern warfare concept before it's launch. Some of you folks seem to think they opposed it after and even now. 14 million copies sold is enough to bring anyone over to your side.

  • just-me-fun

    Posted Nov 9, 2009 6:36 am PT

    abandon activision i want cod on my ps3

  • JOKER677

    Posted Nov 8, 2009 2:22 am PT

    wow how can you deny good reviews and sales of modern warfare? dummies at activision

  • dafinchi

    Posted Nov 7, 2009 7:46 pm PT

    @smizz 16

    While his "ineptitude" may astound you, CoD 7 is taking place in the Cold War.

    Don't know how it'll work, but we'll see /shrug

  • Rev8691

    Posted Nov 7, 2009 1:29 pm PT

    there is definitely something wrong with activision....

  • HotNikkels

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 9:51 pm PT

    world war 2 is getting old, modern warfare was better than waw in every way except for the fact that the levels were too small. its boring playing with old guns and single shot rifles, the modern weapons are so much cooler

  • smizz_16

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 9:51 pm PT

    @ JulioFN: Your ineptitude astounds me, how can you have a game based on the Cold War? There was no fighting, just a huge standoff

  • sivasiba2

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 4:21 am PT

    WWII game were fun long ago but now after all the MOH games Commandos the previous CODs now that's enough..I swear I only played COD4 becoz they changed the setting...And I played OD5 despite it being in that era beoz I loved 4 too much...I even heard that the new COD would be In the cold war era...perhaps Vietnam...Good move...

  • RaChi_Jonny07

    Posted Nov 3, 2009 8:42 am PT

    Vote to World War II.It's the best history.

  • Sgt-slayer

    Posted Oct 26, 2009 5:18 pm PT

    THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!

  • livevil01

    Posted Oct 26, 2009 11:56 am PT

    thanks infinity god bless more power!!! many more COD to come please

  • Jerry_15

    Posted Oct 24, 2009 1:01 pm PT

    This game is going to be great

  • JulioFN

    Posted Oct 22, 2009 1:26 pm PT

    I think we shouldn't stick too much to modern warfare. I think the themes should vary a little. Vietnam, WW2, WW1, MW, Cold War and others.
    Modern Warfare 2 will kick some asses!

  • triple_punse

    Posted Oct 21, 2009 6:07 am PT

    ww2 has been done way too much. stick to modern warfare, christ. wtf is wrong with activision

  • 14monkey

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 7:49 pm PT

    activision i mean wow that is just retarded cod4 is a great game but it was new the only down side to making modern warfare that it ended medal of honor

  • codezer0

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 3:49 pm PT

    I don't know if Activision will ever read this, but in the outside chance they do, I will summarize it as quickly as I can.

    I too thought Call of Duty was all about World War 2. I also thought that's all it was ever going to be about. I didn't realize just how SICK and TIRED I was of the World War 2 setting... until I played CoD4. To this day, I regret having ever had to give up that game.

    Modern Warfare was to the Call of Duty franchise what broadband was to the brick&mortar music industry. It rocked my proverbial world, and in a good way. And I do NOT want to go back. So much so, I have refused to even download a DEMO of W@W because I didn't want to go back to tired, old WW2. I did not want to have even more thinly-veiled jingo-ism about "oh our amurrikun soljers aer sooo gr8". I actually adored Capt. Price and his handlebar mustache because it was so awesome to see a kick-ass guy *not* from United States for a change be able to fix things even as our "good ol' boys" manage to screw the proverbial pooch.

    Long live Modern Warfare... WW2-era Call of Duty is dead to me. And you won't see any of my dollars again if you force IW to "gb2/WW2/".

  • itachi100 posted Oct 18, 2009 8:25 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    itachi100

    Posted Oct 18, 2009 8:25 pm PT (hide)

    What a load of idiots. The world is LONG tired of Futuristic and WWII shooters.

  • TurambarGS

    Posted Oct 18, 2009 9:46 am PT

    Shows how much publishers know about developing or the game industry in general. Also shows how much they interfere.

  • Captain_Campion

    Posted Oct 17, 2009 9:41 am PT

    The problem is accountants. Seriously. And business majors. They screw up the movie industry with crap like this (taking good scripts and turning them into cliche' junk) and apparently they do it in the game business, too. They know numbers and financial statements so they think they know plot lines and story settings.

    Let the creative people do their job and just sit back and count the money, morons.

  • Dramacide

    Posted Oct 16, 2009 1:51 am PT

    It just shows how these corporate stiff are stuck in there ways, they totally milked ww2 wit the first three games anyway and still didnt wanna go modern.. i for one am a console gamer who was coverted to cod on the strength on cod4 modern warfare and i have bought cod5 waw on the strength of that imagine that they would still be missing out on all those sales if they insisted on keeping there head up their ass it just goes to show that market research isn everything and a strong idea can change the whole industry.

  • glassfish8

    Posted Oct 15, 2009 11:51 pm PT

    the fact that they say modern warfare games are too risky is the part that realy has me stumped other franchises have seemed to manage so why is Activision causing such a fuss if they make it back to ww2 i will never buy another call of duty game i thought activision had more brains then this but they are obviously a big self centerd buissness that are trying to protect their own ass at the expence of all us fans at the moment what Activision have tell me they dont give a f*** about us and for that they should be ashamed.

    thanks Guys Glassfish

  • adv_tr00per

    Posted Oct 15, 2009 6:14 pm PT

    i agree on the PC only part, but i think modern warfare was a good idea.

  • Anarky86

    Posted Oct 15, 2009 9:17 am PT

    Wow... Those are the visonaries who bought Blizzard??? Morons who can't see a genre has been done way too much, has CoD 5 been that much more successful than CoD 4?? Quite the opposite... Activision should focus on their Guitar Hero franchise and let it's studios THINK for new ideas... I mean seriously after the X-Box and PS3 succes of Modern Warfare... Really I'm just speechless... Or not, MORONS!

  • glassfish8

    Posted Oct 14, 2009 10:57 pm PT

    actavision if you make this franchise ww2 again you are taking it to hell and why the f*** would a company want to destroy their master peice i hope they have a sirious think about this because if they do go back to world war 2 the the call of duty name is officialy f***ed.

    ww2 is played out there is no more to play.

    long live infinity ward!! die Activision!!

  • glassfish8

    Posted Oct 14, 2009 10:28 pm PT

    i dont understand why they say modern warfare games are too risky how are they any more risky then WWII. is it becasue of political views? Racism? i dont know but whoever suggest go back to world war 2 should be shot!!!!

  • Jerry_Sully

    Posted Oct 14, 2009 5:55 pm PT

    Seeing how Modern Warfare has pretty much become a phenomenon, why the hell wouldn't Activision want to continue the success? And having the second one a PC exclusive would've just been dumb on their part. Hope the campaign's gonna be as epic as the first.

  • gr8drummer

    Posted Oct 14, 2009 2:59 pm PT

    YoJim8obaJoe, thats the dumbest think ive ever heard. not really but pretty darn close.

  • Gamma_Fit

    Posted Oct 14, 2009 1:23 pm PT

    This has a GREAT chance to be GAME OF THE YEAR!!!!!

  • CurvedSword

    Posted Oct 13, 2009 5:03 am PT

    @ YoJim8obaJoe ok yes i also dont see the super attraction of cod
    but dont go callin it a 'noob friendly FPS game and thats it,like a introduction to the genre sort of game like halo'
    coz last time i checked halo wasnt really really really harder than cod or any thing

  • YoJim8obaJoe posted Oct 13, 2009 12:19 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    YoJim8obaJoe

    Posted Oct 13, 2009 12:19 am PT (hide)

    still dont understand the cod love,it a decent noob friendly FPS game and thats it,like a introduction to the genre sort of game like halo

  • 69Kameleon69

    Posted Oct 12, 2009 11:03 pm PT

    Cruorem - This one, to quote my brother "completely jumps the shark" (British military saying he tells me). 'Jumping the Shark' refers to a moment in the American sitcom "Happy Days", when the character Arthur Fonzarelli aka The Fonz or Fonzie literally jumps a shark. After that episode the ratings dropped and the show was cancelled.

  • P90E21

    Posted Oct 12, 2009 9:50 pm PT

    And just think WW2 is fun but I am abit tired of them its all that seems to be out there then comes COD4 and I loved it. I think its funny to find out that Activision wanted another WW2 -_-. Now I know that Tryach is Acts $^#%@. Lest IW can make a good game. I want MW2 and I have high hopes that I hope it does not crash ^^.

  • frazzle00

    Posted Oct 12, 2009 5:16 pm PT

    I really didn't enjoy the original Modern Warfare. Play it on Veteran and you'll see it for what it is; a walking advertisement for bad game design, and crappy AI. I don't think I'll be getting Modern Warfare 2 anytime soon especially given the current slew of great titles like Uncharted 2 and Forza 3.

  • RHSLacrosse48

    Posted Oct 11, 2009 10:33 pm PT

    akiwak is a hippy.

  • Cruorem

    Posted Oct 11, 2009 9:40 pm PT

    I don't know if anyone else has read about the gameplay and so on but I have to admit I'm quite skeptical about this game. The first was basically like a modern war film, realistic but with cinematic bits, e.g. the ending. This one, to quote my brother "completely jumps the shark" (British military saying he tells me). We have a guy called Ghost who runs around with a skull printed on his balaclava being all mysterious, dual wielding of pistols and from one screen shot I've seen what looks like gangster wielding (you know, where they hold the gun sideways, a techniques which is oh so accurate?). I really liked the first game, mostly for it's semi-realism but this one seems to have dissolved into a geek's wet dream.

  • LVMVP23 posted Oct 11, 2009 9:38 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    LVMVP23

    Posted Oct 11, 2009 9:38 pm PT (hide)

    I hated COD:MW.. Its sounds like a damn arcade..Hopefully the new one sounds more authenic

  • akiwak

    Posted Oct 11, 2009 9:27 pm PT

    Activision will fail should it continue to try and make games only from the top down. Screw the market research when a game is fun, involving and creative. Good on IW for sticking to their guns and not backing down. I wish them luck and congrats to them for not letting THE MAN bring'em down.

  • wolf0

    Posted Oct 11, 2009 4:12 pm PT

    thank god but whats sad when COD 4 came out did not even want it but my bro had it i try it and feel in love

  • RedSoxfan67

    Posted Oct 11, 2009 2:47 pm PT

    if modern warfare 2 will be the greatest game ever give me a thumbs up

  • ChamomileBaths

    Posted Oct 11, 2009 9:22 am PT

    I'm inclined to say I Activision sucks just because I want to. But the way things happened according to this article really isn't that surprising given that the company did stand to lose so much.

  • Rikstah

    Posted Oct 11, 2009 5:22 am PT

    I dont know about you guys but I've been seeing modern war style games popping up alongside WW2, why do ppl say WW2 is overdone? Has everyone forgotten that we've been playing CS for a decade, isn't that a modern setting?

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