Activision: Modern Warfare has taken on a 'life of its own'

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Mar 26th 2009 at 3:10PM }

Aside from, uh, gameplay footage, the one thing that was deemed conspicuously absent from Modern Warfare 2's explosive teaser trailer was the Call of Duty branding. Whether developer Infinity Ward is still debating the nested sequel's final title or simply hopes to distinguish its next FPS from the other 37 Call of Duty games on shelves is up for speculation, but it's hard to argue the independent prestige that lies behind Call of Duty 4's "Modern Warfare."

An Activision spokesperson seems to agree, telling Joystiq, "At this time, all we are free to say is that Modern Warfare has taken on such a life of its own, it has become our focus now." Since Modern Warfare 2 is almost certain to spawn another iteration after it releases this November, it may be best to ditch the Call of Duty brand before we end up with something like Call of Duty 17: Modern Warfare 6: Moderner Warfare 3: Lasers are Bad News: Aerosmith.

Update: Activision has just officially announced the November 10th arrival of "Modern Warfare 2" -- sans "Call of Duty."

Tags: Activision, Activision-Blizzard, Call-of-Duty, FPS, Infinity-Ward, Modern-Warfare, Modern-Warfare-2

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

rohan @ Mar 26th 2009 3:14PM

"Call of Duty 17: Modern Warfare 6: Moderner Warfare 3: Lasers are Bad News: Aerosmith." i love that name
someone make a petition to get that name on a game

Michelobius @ Mar 26th 2009 3:22PM

I would buy that game.

Cody @ Mar 26th 2009 3:48PM

Who cares what they call it anyway??

Might as well call it "(Fill in the blank) Dual Analog FPS" Part 8" for all we care.

C'mon Conduit. Bring me some refreshing controls!

Is it bad I still go back to Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 and it's god awful graphics even while Killzone 2 sits in my PS3?

Keith @ Mar 26th 2009 3:55PM

Helghast Scum

Paul Kemp @ Mar 26th 2009 8:45PM

hahaha. Pricelss. :)

rohan @ Mar 26th 2009 10:04PM

FOR HELGHAN!

WRE @ Mar 26th 2009 3:15PM

"Call of Duty 17: Modern Warfare 6: Moderner Warfare 3: Lasers are Bad News: Aerosmith."

Pfft. I'm waiting for the Metallica version.

DjDATZ @ Mar 26th 2009 3:57PM

Seriously. Aerosmith and guns? No. Now, Metallica and guns? Fuck yea.

adolson @ Mar 26th 2009 4:22PM

Yeeaaahhh!! Oooooooh.

acme @ Mar 26th 2009 4:31PM

the guy is absolutely right, you don't see apple renaming the ipod after a new iteration, you don't see Honda dropping the word Civic after a new model...Brand names sell, its that simple. Why do you think Monolith worked so hard to get the F.E.A.R name back from WB for Project Origin?

Dropping the COD name is a risky move. They will have to advertise the hell out of this one. (no doubt they won't succeed though)

acme @ Mar 26th 2009 4:32PM

Crap, wrong thread, this was for ps360owner

Riley @ Mar 26th 2009 4:47PM

Didn't you ever play the Aerosmith arcade game? Of course they go with guns!

Hedgeson @ Mar 26th 2009 7:03PM

I played the Aerosmith arcade shooter. I have good memories of it; That CD thrower was wicked. The premise is really weird, but the gameplay and design were great

JXCgunrunna @ Mar 26th 2009 8:31PM

Come on Ludwig, i expected more from you. you should have used:
"Call of Duty 17: Modern Warfare 6: Moderner Warfare 3: Lasers are Bad News: Guns N Roses."

ps360owner @ Mar 26th 2009 3:17PM

i love call of duty but ditching the call of duty name is one of the stupidest ideas i ever heard.

the reason call of duty games sell so well is because its got call of duty in the name.

if some one walks in to a shop say this november to buy a game.

they look and they see modernwarfare 2 there going to think it has nothing to do with call of duty so they wont buy it.

Deeznuts420 @ Mar 26th 2009 3:18PM

you act like people are so stupid as to not do any research before purcha.....oh well played sir, well played.

ps360owner @ Mar 26th 2009 3:20PM

im not talking about the hardcore gamer im talking about the normal gamer just walks into a shop and see's modernwarfare 2.with no call of duty in the name it will make that person think it has nothing to do with call of duty.

Erluti @ Mar 26th 2009 3:40PM

I have a friend who works at gamestop who says people tried to return Halo Wars because it wasn't a shooter.
And I hear people talk about CoD4 like it was the first Call of Duty. I agree, it would be a mistake to drop the title.
But Jedi Knight got away with it back in the day... So who knows.

Troy Powers (PSN: TroyPowers) @ Mar 26th 2009 3:51PM

I disagree. I think "Modern Warfare" has completely overshadowed "Call of Duty." I think that by dropping CoD, they're further setting themselves apart from the (yawn) WW2 shooter genre.

The Baron @ Mar 26th 2009 4:10PM

Yeah, people at my college talk about "playing some call of duty" all the time.

Word of mouth will probably let them get away with this one (because everyone will tell each other it's a sequel to CoD4), but isn't the point of sequels to cash in on the franchise as much as is humanly possible?

UK Trojan @ Mar 26th 2009 5:22PM

I could be wrong, but I suspect there may be the small possibility that Activision will advertise the crap out of this game in the months building up to its release. I'm sure it will do just fine whether or not it has the CoD prefix. Anyone already so sold on the CoD franchise is already gonna know that this is a sequel to that anyway.

Deeznuts420 @ Mar 26th 2009 3:17PM

Call of Duty 6: moderner warfare: green hue edition

copa @ Mar 26th 2009 3:17PM

It sounds like Infinity Ward is still (rightfully pissed) that their brand keeps getting diluted by Treyarch in off years. Perhaps they are attempting to claim the Modern Warfare brand for themselves.

I can't wait to see their reaction when Activision announces Modern Warfare 3, developed by Treyarch, coming to all consoles in Holiday 2010.

DjDATZ @ Mar 26th 2009 3:58PM

Sadly, it's so true.

Mr Khan @ Mar 26th 2009 4:25PM

I really don't think that's the case. Infinity Ward is slave to Activision, especially in regards to IP's Activision owns. This is an action of Activision, trying to build a new franchise that they can construct parallel to Call of Duty.

pixelate @ Mar 26th 2009 4:47PM

Introducing a knockoff and incremental improvement by someone other than Infinity Ward (like a Modern Warfare 3) is not the way to go, I'd love to know what Activision is thinking going forward.

It's trendy to hate on Treyarch, but despite myself I'm actually enjoying the hell out of World at War. If they get to use what I'm sure will be a phenomenal MW2 engine for a Call of Duty: Vietnam or something in 2010, I'm on board.

Zoot Suit Jedi @ Mar 26th 2009 3:18PM

"Call of Duty 17: Modern Warfare 6: Moderner Warfare 3: Lasers are Bad News: Aerosmith."

Today's "Oops, I crapped myself from laughing too hard" moment is brought to you by Ludwig Kietzmann.

DKiller79 @ Mar 26th 2009 3:19PM

Modern WarFare is back i liked CoD4 Modern WarFare

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Mar 26th 2009 3:19PM

Call of Duty 17: Modern Warfare 6: Moderner Warfare 3: Lasers are Bad News: Aerosmith.

ROFLMAO!!!!!

SecretAgentHam @ Mar 26th 2009 3:20PM

Ludwig FTW! i always enjoy your posts. halarious.

The Dark Wayne @ Mar 26th 2009 3:20PM

so since there was a rumor awhile back that the next CoD would be in the future, and this isn't the next CoD, is there still hope for that?

Rick @ Mar 26th 2009 3:21PM

Man, I hope not.

knor @ Mar 26th 2009 3:23PM

Lol wut?

The Dark Wayne @ Mar 26th 2009 3:23PM

i wasnt thinking space marines and aliens, more like GRAW level tech, just to keep things fresh. You can only use an AK-47 or an M16 so many times before it gets boring

Maulok @ Mar 26th 2009 3:29PM

I remember hearing this rumor about the Battlefield series that turned into Battlefield 2142, but not for Call of Duty.

The Baron @ Mar 26th 2009 4:11PM

There was a rumour that Infinity Ward were looking into making a sci-fi shooter. Since this game isn't technically a Call of Duty, it's even more unlikely that the proposed sci-fi game would be.

Sir Buzz Killington( The Artist formerly known as Jakka) @ Mar 26th 2009 3:24PM

taken "a life on its own", eh? ...what a complicated way of saying spin-off.

Taylor @ Mar 26th 2009 3:25PM

"Call of Duty 17: Modern Warfare 6: Moderner Warfare 3: Lasers are Bad News: Aerosmith."
That is the funniest thing I have read in a long time.

G1GAHURTZ @ Mar 28th 2009 2:17PM

"Call of Duty 17: Modern Warfare 6: Moderner Warfare 3: Lasers are Bad News: Aerosmith."

Haha!! Quality

ChimpWithAHandgun @ Mar 27th 2009 12:50AM

Oh God...its Jedi Knight all over again.

Maulok @ Mar 26th 2009 3:28PM

Am I the only one who would like them to keep the Call of Duty branding, but separate the two brands?

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in Nov '10
Call of Duty: World at War 2 in Nov '10

and on and on...

FemaleOrca @ Mar 26th 2009 3:57PM

I'm all for them losing the Call of Duty Branding (although i think they will sell far less without it), I'm just not too keen on the name of the game being "Modern Warfare 2". Descriptor subtitles just dont work as the primary title.

Ex: MGS3: Snake Eater 2 = Snake Eater 2. Nevermind, that's awesome.