MMO Call of Duty?
Activision released a statement last night confirming that both Jason West, and Vince Zampella have been officially dismissed from Infinity Ward, and been temporarily replaced by Steve Pearce & Steve Arkrich of Activision. While this has been confirmed, it seems the reason for dismissal as ‘insubordination’, is down to the also released future plans for the Call of Duty franchise also released in the statement. Which confirms Activision’s plans to outsource the Call of Duty name, to thier latest aquistion of Sledgehammer Games. Who are led by two former members of the team behind Viseral Games; Dead Space. Where they have plans to make an ‘Action-Adventure’ genre Call of Duty which is all the information known for this title, for the time being.
Confirmed in the press release also is the two map packs for Modern Warfare 2, and that Treyarch are on schedule to release thier Call of Duty: Veitnam game by November, continuing the annual output of Call of Duty games.
More interestingly, is Activision’s confirmed plans to release Call of Duty in Asia. With a massive hint towards beginning work on a subscription based Call of Duty. With Activision co-partnered with Blizzard Entertainment a Call of Duty MMO would be quite the scary thought, and Activision can already see the liquid gold, and quite rightly wants a taste. You’ll find the main section of the press release in full below:
“”2010 will be another important year for the Call of Duty franchise,” stated Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing. “In addition to continued catalog sales, new downloadable content from Infinity Ward and a new Call of Duty release, we are excited about the opportunity to bring the franchise to new geographies, genres and players.”
The company expects to release a new Call of Duty game from Treyarch this fall. In addition, Infinity Ward is in development on the first two downloadable map packs for Modern Warfare(R) 2 for release in 2010.
The company is also for the first time announcing that a new game in the Call of Duty series is expected to be released in 2011 and that Sledgehammer Games, a newly formed, wholly owned studio, is in development on a Call of Duty game that will extend the franchise into the action-adventure genre. Sledgehammer is helmed by industry veterans Glen A. Schofield and Michael Condrey. Prior to joining Activision Publishing, Schofield was the Executive Producer of the award-winning game, Dead Space and Michael Condrey was the Sr. Development Director on the game. The Dead Space franchise has won more than 80 industry awards worldwide including the prestigious A.I.A.S. Action Game of the Year and two B.A.F.T.A.S.
The Call of Duty business unit will be led by Philip Earl, who currently runs Activision Publishing’s Asia Pacific region and previously served in senior executive positions with Procter & Gamble and Nestle. Activision Publishing veterans Steve Pearce, chief technology officer and Steve Ackrich, head of production, will lead Infinity Ward on an interim basis. Jason West and Vince Zampella are no longer with Infinity Ward.
Lastly, Activision Publishing announced that the company is in discussions with a select number of partners to bring the franchise to Asia, one of the fastest growing regions for online multiplayer games in the world.
SOURCE Activision Publishing, Inc.“
