Call of Duty is "hitting the wall", says GTA 5 publisher

Take-Two Interactive's fiery CEO Strauss Zelnick has taken to the stage to bang the GTA drum, revealing that the series has shipped a colossal 125 million units worldwide to date. There was also room during Zelnick's presentation at the Credit Suisse 2012 Technology Conference for a few pops at Activision and Call of Duty, perhaps the only console franchise that can rival GTA's commercial girth.

Zelnick conceded that Call of Duty is a "quality product", but argued that annualisation will eventually kill even the most loved of franchises. GTA is "special", he went on, because Rockstar takes its time with each game.

"It's our view that if you want intellectual properties to be permanent, then you run the risk in that circumstance of having consumers fall out of love with that franchise," he observed. "[Activision] obviously views the world differently."

The exec pointed to Black Ops 2's relatively underwhelming launch sales as evidence of this - while massively popular, the game has fallen short of its predecessors' sales records. "That's never been the case with one of ours," he added. "Ours do better each time.

"Our view is it's hard to make permanent intellectual properties if you annualize it, with the exception of sports titles. So far that's proven to be the case. IP that is annualized eventually seems to hit the wall and we don't want our IP to hit the wall."

Zelnick's remarks echo those of Rockstar's Leslie Benzies from earlier in the month. "We could easily have churned out a new version year after year without really progressing as a franchise," he said. "But if we did that eventually the fans would lose interest."

Here's a round-up of recent GTA newsbytes. Rockstar's Dan Houser has explained why the forthcoming GTA 5 isn't a next gen game, alleging that there's "plenty of power" in current gen hardware. According to ASDA, GTA 5's release date is 17 May 2013.

He's dead right. CoD will implode in the not too distant future.

Had Activison been better caretakers, they franchise could have continued indefinitely.

Nah, GTA will die before COD does.

COD will go on forever.

Uhh....Link?

it is written in stone that activision kills off every franchise they own with saturation

Nah, GTA will die before COD does.

COD will go on forever.

Obviously_Right

Black ops 2 sold far less then MW3

Plus gta 5 should outsell the next cod game easily

Nah, GTA will die before COD does.

COD will go on forever.

Obviously_Right

Doubt it. People have been getting tired of COD for a while, but I have yet to hear the same complaints against GTA.

I agree. I've gotten every COD game the last few years and I get bored of each one quicker and quicker each time. Sold MW2 after a few months, BLOPS 1 even earlier, MW3 even earlier. I have BLOPS 2, played it less than those, and still got bored quicker.

But also, let me just add that 5 years is a bit extreme too :P Sure, the experience feels fresher though.

well... the sales prove that people want the same game every year :D

[QUOTE="Obviously_Right"]

Nah, GTA will die before COD does.

COD will go on forever.

Meeeper282

Black ops 2 sold far less then MW3

Plus gta 5 should outsell the next cod game easily

Not really doe.

GTA will eventually hit that wall too, however it will be a longer time till it does so because there is such a big gap in between releases.EliteM0nk3y

Doubt it, each gta game has sold better

wouldn't be surprised if gta 5 sold 30m, with 15m sold on PS3 and 15m sold on 360 maybe less on 360

Might go over 30m if a pc verson is released

Nah, GTA will die before COD does.

COD will go on forever.

Obviously_Right

The thing is Rockstar has been publishing great games outside of GTA for years and years

Activision has garbage across the board.

[QUOTE="EliteM0nk3y"]GTA will eventually hit that wall too, however it will be a longer time till it does so because there is such a big gap in between releases.Meeeper282

Doubt it, each gta game has sold better

wouldn't be surprised if gta 5 sold 30m, with 15m sold on PS3 and 15m sold on 360 maybe less on 360

Might go over 30m if a pc verson is released

[QUOTE="Meeeper282"]

[QUOTE="EliteM0nk3y"]GTA will eventually hit that wall too, however it will be a longer time till it does so because there is such a big gap in between releases.EliteM0nk3y

Doubt it, each gta game has sold better

wouldn't be surprised if gta 5 sold 30m, with 15m sold on PS3 and 15m sold on 360 maybe less on 360

Might go over 30m if a pc verson is released

What about mario and pokemon? especially pokemon, every new generation sells better then the last one

I agree. I've gotten every COD game the last few years and I get bored of each one quicker and quicker each time. Sold MW2 after a few months, BLOPS 1 even earlier, MW3 even earlier. I have BLOPS 2, played it less than those, and still got bored quicker.

But also, let me just add that 5 years is a bit extreme too :P Sure, the experience feels fresher though.

SaltyMeatballs

He's probably right, but so far COD titles always enjoyed great sales..

As long as this continues Activision will keep releasing on a yearly basis COD games..

COD will die with this gen. They really aren't prepared for next gen with that archaic engine. They say they have improved it but all the games look the same, or, in the case of Blops 2 it actually looks wore than MW3!

When other devs start pushing graphics with let's say, on a new Battlefield?, people will get bored of COD and move on to another shooter franchise.

This trend has been observed for a long time now, the thing is COD is a massive franchise as it is so it would take a while before it becomes irrelevant, perhaps in the next 3yrs. The thing is, if you annualize a game like COD, the input time for developers to carry out research and create unique experiences that seperate themselves from other products in the market is reduced which tends to show in the final product usually termed as'Copy and Paste'. There isnt any wrong in Copy and Pasting, howeva such methods cant work for Shooters like it did for Sport games because Sports in real life are annual events by nature, War isnt an annual event and thats why people are getting bored of COD more and more. A time gap of 3yrs would be sufficient enough for Treyach to determine what direction they want to go with COD

While I do think the CoD franchise is in a state of horizontal development, it'll take years before people get sick of it. With how big the franchise has gotten, it'll still make money regardless of if it sells less than the previous year's game.

COD will die in the next 5 years most likely.

Black Ops 2 did pass MW3 sales records, what is he smoking?

That won't stop it from selling though.

Still waiting for CoD: Dark Ages Warfare !

oh people still play COD? I thought black ops killed it alreadyTrainerCeleste

CoD is certianly in trouble on the Vita.

Everywhere else it seems fine.

it is written in stone that activision kills off every franchise they own with saturation

wis3boi

im actually inclined to agree...or on the other hand they sit on IP's they can't literally rape worse than Lucasfilms and the star wars IP (cmon Clone wars is the biggest pile of crud ever).

Of course it has. It reached the point of saturation long ago.

But Activision is going to keep milking that cash cow until it's shriveled and dry.

Nah, GTA will die before COD does.

COD will go on forever.

Obviously_Right

Black Ops 2 did pass MW3 sales records, what is he smoking?

TheEpicGoat

It didn't. MW 3 sold less than Blops 1 and Blops 2 is selling less than MW3. Whether this is because of franchise fatigue or tougher competition (BF3 last year and Halo 4 this year) remains to be seen.

[QUOTE="TheEpicGoat"]

Black Ops 2 did pass MW3 sales records, what is he smoking?

Icarian

It didn't. MW 3 sold less than Blops 1 and Blops 2 is selling less than MW3. Whether this is because of franchise fatigue or tougher competition (BF3 last year and Halo 4 this year) remains to be seen.

Oh, well it did make more money though. $500M day one.

[QUOTE="Icarian"]

[QUOTE="TheEpicGoat"]

Black Ops 2 did pass MW3 sales records, what is he smoking?

TheEpicGoat

It didn't. MW 3 sold less than Blops 1 and Blops 2 is selling less than MW3. Whether this is because of franchise fatigue or tougher competition (BF3 last year and Halo 4 this year) remains to be seen.

Oh, well it did make more money though. $500M day one.

That's because it doesn't cost anything to copy and paste... :P

[QUOTE="TheEpicGoat"]

[QUOTE="Icarian"]

It didn't. MW 3 sold less than Blops 1 and Blops 2 is selling less than MW3. Whether this is because of franchise fatigue or tougher competition (BF3 last year and Halo 4 this year) remains to be seen.

MrJack3690

Oh, well it did make more money though. $500M day one.

That's because it doesn't cost anything to copy and paste... :P

all you need on your resmue to apply for work at activision is ctrl c + ctrl v

And he's right.

I'm sure IW thought the same, and that's why they had a fall-out with Activision.

Activision just wants the money, it's not necessarily the dev's fault

In general, Activision is very short sighted with their IPs. They've run quite a few into the ground for a quick buck. You would think they'd learn by now, but nope. IP longevity is not a priority for them.

With new hardware comes new appeal, just when you thought CoD was gonna lose interest among the gaming market the fresh new paint provided by the 720 and PS4 will make sure to reignite that interest.

CoD will be insanly popular for at least another 5 years.

This is why I have so much respect for Rockstar, they just break new ground and try different things. They don't rehash games and release them every year, they take their time. They don't cut corners in game development, they spend loads of time, money and resources making the game as best as humanly possible.

Hell, if you need any proof they like to innovate, just look at the three character thing GTA V is doing, only one of many aspects of the game that other games haven't even attempted on that scale or level.

CoD is still fun, but not nearly on the same level of quality.

I agree. I've gotten every COD game the last few years and I get bored of each one quicker and quicker each time. Sold MW2 after a few months, BLOPS 1 even earlier, MW3 even earlier. I have BLOPS 2, played it less than those, and still got bored quicker.

But also, let me just add that 5 years is a bit extreme too :P Sure, the experience feels fresher though.

SaltyMeatballs

[QUOTE="Meeeper282"]

[QUOTE="Obviously_Right"]

Nah, GTA will die before COD does.

COD will go on forever.

Obviously_Right

Black ops 2 sold far less then MW3

Plus gta 5 should outsell the next cod game easily

Not really doe.

I fear that among others, Assassin's Creed is heading down the same path as CoD. I loved I and II. But then Ubisoft started yearly releases (not to mention the portable AC games) and even though the games are good, the magic is missing. It just starts to get boring after a while. Games like MGS, GTA, and many others are not annualized. They take years to release new games. So everytime I buy them, its very refreshing and not stale. One of my favorite games last year was Deus Ex HR. That was like the 3rd Deus Ex game in 10 years. It had something special about it and that's why I loved it. Had Deus Ex been a yearly release, I would not have bought it.

Nah, GTA will die before COD does.

COD will go on forever.

Obviously_Right

"Zelnick conceded that Call of Duty is a "quality product":lol: