Rumor: Infinity Ward to be sole Call of Duty dev [update]

54 Comments by Justin McElroy Apr 22nd 2008 10:00AM

We know this runs the risk of sounding like a bad game of Telephone, but here it goes: We heard from Next Gen that they heard from an ex-Activision employee (who was formerly part of Underground) that they heard that Call of Duty 4 developers Infinity Ward recently renegotiated its contract with parent company Activision. Aside from finally getting casual Fridays and that margarita machine that Debbie in accounts receivable has been asking about, IW also reportedly got the right to be the exclusive developer of all things Call of Duty.

If true, that would edge out Treyarch (which made the 3rd numbered game in the series) after they complete work on the CoD game that they're unofficially working on. With as much love as IW put into the excellent CoD 4, we can totally understand why they don't want Uncle Treyarch to babysit the series every other weekend. But, as we've pointed out, this is just hearsay at the moment. We'll let you know if we hear something official.

Update: Activision has responded, describing the rumor as "erroneous information regarding the CoD franchise."

Tags: activision, call-of-duty, call-of-duty-4, call-of-duty-5, infinity-ward

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

PojoMofo: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:04AM

GOD please let it be true, Treyarch really blew it on COD3.

I still think its a bad idea to go back to WWII setting though.

BananaBoat: Apr 22nd 2008; 11:08AM

Unfortunately, if it applies to all games after the one Treyarch is working on, we are talking 4-5 years before there is a stop to the crap created by treyarch. In other words, this is good news, but it doesn't affect anyone till atleast 2012-2013 or so.

E.J.: Apr 22nd 2008; 2:01PM

They need to cover the Vietnam War next. Seeing how great they told a story in CoD4, IW making a Vietnam War-Era game would be epic.

Obie: Apr 22nd 2008; 2:02PM

I am sure there might be a clause to get out of that commitment with Treyarch.

I hope that COD5 falls on IW and they take their time with it.

XGM: Apr 22nd 2008; 5:54PM

I think they should split off CoD 4 into its own game, as modern stuff and keep CoD for the WWII. Both games are excellent and i want more.

Donald: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:04AM

This is a triumph for CoD fans.

Jomolungma: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:54AM

Makes sense for COD fans, makes no sense for Activision. No way can IW push out a new COD as frequently as they are released now, since two studios are working on the series. The only way this makes sense is if IW was threatening to bolt, and Activision decided they'd lose more money if IW did that than if they couldn't pump out a new COD every 12 months or so.

I have a sneaky suspicion that this might devolve into a F.E.A.R.-type scenario - IW will produce games called Call of Duty, and Treyarch and other studios will produce COD-like games called something else, like Sound of Obligation or something.

343 Guilty Fart: Apr 22nd 2008; 12:44PM

Especially for Debbie in accounts receivable.

Obie: Apr 22nd 2008; 2:03PM

"Sound of Obligation"....+1 for you sir! lolz

xFenixKnightx: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:05AM

FUCK YES!!! Nuff said!

Bleu: Apr 22nd 2008; 11:06AM

Teryarch's new game will be called "The Right of Passage" lol I thought of that one all by myself.....are you guys proud of me???

xFenixKnightx: Apr 22nd 2008; 11:52AM

Learning you are you my young padawan :)

The Artist formally known as Jesus: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:06AM

I think the real victory is that casual fridays are back baby!

Marlos Hill: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:08AM

[+] ALL THE WAY!

deaftly: Apr 22nd 2008; 11:28AM

God schmod, I want my monkey man.

OMGOMG: Apr 22nd 2008; 12:06PM

I wonder if they will wear Hawaiian shirts on casual Fridays a la Office Space.

Mutant: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:12AM

Good for them. While I liked COD3, COD2 and COD4 were better games.

Bretters: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:20AM

I hope this is true, they definitely deserve the rights to this franchise after what they've accomplished with COD4.

Owyn: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:22AM

This is seriously good news, lads.

Jerk Face: Apr 22nd 2008; 1:02PM

Is that supposed to be a dick coming out of Mario's face!?

Because that would be the worst kind of awesome.

xFenixKnightx: Apr 22nd 2008; 1:13PM

Dude! I'm in freakin tears over here. I saw that too, but didnt really pay attn until I read this. Thats funny as hell. +1 Jerkface

Haha Mario has a dickface =P

Owyn: Apr 22nd 2008; 9:08PM

The best kind of dick, though. Mario Penis.

Geo: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:22AM

that is the best new i heard today, is better for Infinty to keep the franchise, i just did not like Treyark work, it was not a terrible work they made but is not enough for me....

Vcize: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:28AM

How many CoD's are they planning on making?

Good news, but I guess this wouldn't take effect until CoD7 (almost seems weird to say that) sine CoD6 would've still been IW's anyway.

So realistically, we're probably looking at a good 5-6 years before we'd see any effects of this.

xFenixKnightx: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:34AM

Im thinking that the title Treyarch is working on would get renamed to something like Call of Honor or Medal of Duty, you know...something like that since its a WWII game. Then IW gets to make the official COD5 game shipping out Q4 09' That would make sense to me.

Phranctoast: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:43AM

I think IW will get the next COD (COD5) and Treyarch will develop a spin off like Big Red one. Actually, I hope thats how it will be.

Tim The Enchanter: Apr 22nd 2008; 4:17PM

Medal of Duty?: Quaint Company

Brent: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:30AM

Treyarch just got pwnd. IW FTW!!1

netgem21: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:31AM

I hope so - Treyarch ruined the franchise and IMHO lost a lot of sales for IW's CoD4.

IncredibleBulk92: Apr 22nd 2008; 11:49AM

... What? No it didn't. Call of Duty 4 was probably THE best selling game of the year, well that released on real consoles at least (just to discount Wii Sports). Call of Duty will always have great sales, but now we'll be assured of the quality of they games too.

netgem21: Apr 22nd 2008; 11:57AM

I'm afraid it did. If you look at it from an economical perspective, there was more opportunity and scope for more sales if CoD3 didn't exist. People loved CoD 2. They thought CoD 3 would be good - so they bought it. They hated it. So they didn't buy CoD 4 for the same reason. I'm not talking about internet nerds here, I'm talking about normal consumers who don't know much about developers, etc... I'm sorry, but whichever way you spin this, CoD4 would've sold more if CoD3 was done properly. It's FACT.

JS Beckerist: Apr 22nd 2008; 2:12PM

I think you're ignoring the fact that those people that AREN'T internet nerds wouldn't necessarily see the hate that everyone has for COD3. Personally, I liked the game. While it wasn't on the same level as COD2 or 4, it was still a good game. I think it could have only HELPED sales, because any release, no matter how mediocre, would only push name/brand recognition.

netgem21: Apr 22nd 2008; 2:17PM

Well my Xbox Live friends list is full of people who didn't want to get CoD4 as they didn't want to risk paying £50 ($100) on a game that they didn't enjoy last time round.

DangerMouse: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:31AM

When you sell that many copies of a game, you can throw your weight around a little better. The last thing Activision wants is to piss these guys off.

In fact, i'm surprised that IW doesn't have more control over their IP. I guess you got to give up some freedom's when you're making something out of nothing.

Phranctoast: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:38AM

If they piss these guys off enough, they'll just leave activision and form another studio like they did before. 20 of the members from IW were from 2015 and published by EA (Medal of Honor: Allies assault)

baby sea tuna: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:33AM

Good to hear!

IncredibleBulk92: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:50AM

This needs to be true Treyarch have been bringing the Call of Duty name down for too long. Their not terrible games but compared to the infinity ward games there's no comparison.

Call of Duty is dead! Long live Call of Duty!

nxtiak: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:50AM

IW needs to get the exclusive rights to Call Of Duty and cancel Treyarch's COD5.

Cal: Apr 22nd 2008; 1:24PM

But then they can't whore out a release every year =O

Player1: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:51AM

I don't understand the issue. I started playing COD with CoD 2 on the 360. Later I got 3, and the graphics were so much better, and the experience pretty much the same. And I never had problems with the online. Didn't CoD 4 have an online Beta and still totally jack the online part up? I still, after all their patches, keep a party together when joining an online match. My network settings are all fine. I didn't have issues with Treyarch. I love CoD 4, but at least Treyarch could make online work without issue as far as I knew.

xFenixKnightx: Apr 22nd 2008; 11:41AM

I also liked part 3 and it did have better graphics than COD2. Not sure why people say they "jacked it up" It was sweet IMO...

Deck: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:53AM

Oh I hope this is true! It is very much understandable after the amazingness that was COD4 for sure. I hope, hope it is true.

ThePremierAssassin: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:56AM

That would be AWESOME!

Please God let it be true! After CoD4 I don't see WHY Activision would entrust this game with just any reg developer.

Jnas: Apr 22nd 2008; 10:56AM

If this is true, COD6 will be awesome :P

modified: Apr 22nd 2008; 11:39AM

It must be great working at Treyarch right now knowing that everyone already hates the game you are making.

zero2dash: Apr 22nd 2008; 11:52AM

The usual "debunked" reply from Activision.

Come on guys. Make Treyarch stick to the skateboarding games, leave the shooters to the grown folks. kthxbye

SpekOpz: Apr 22nd 2008; 1:22PM

I sooooooooo wanted this to be true. Damn you Activision for milking this great franchise.

Obie: Apr 22nd 2008; 2:05PM

I wonder if IW might be interested in making a futuristic shooter....I am sure they could come up with something that would trump Halo.

Heck they already do.

Austin: Apr 22nd 2008; 3:08PM

How do they "trump" Halo?

xFenixKnightx: Apr 22nd 2008; 3:09PM

Agreed, ya might have something there.

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