Kotick: Treyarch Doesn't Get Enough Credit for Call of Duty
'Second' CoD studio was actually behind multiplayer side.
Treyarch is largely seen as the 'poor man's Infinity Ward' when it comes to the Call of Duty series. But Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has come out swinging for the Black Ops developer, stating that without them the multiplayer aspect would likely not have been as enticing as it is.
"Multiplayer has been largely developed by Treyarch," he told CNN, adding that the studio was also behind the online elements of last year's biggest game, Modern Warfare 2.
"I don't think Treyarch got their due for how much they contributed in the production and polish to the multiplayer." While it is true that the online side of the FPS series is the main draw, Kotick is keen to detail just how much of a difference that makes to the impact of the franchise.
"More people play 'Black Ops' every day than watch Jay Leno, David Letterman and Jimmy Fallon, combined,. The audience of 'Call of Duty' is probably greater in terms of size ... than in any other interactive form of entertainment."
The exec then compared the series to Facebook and other social media. "If you look at the 500 million people who are on Facebook and the way that people text each other and instant message and use video chat, there is now an evolution of media... Those are the characteristics and attributes that a generation and audiences feel are very important to their media and entertainment experiences. And we expect that."
Nevertheless, Kotick said that there are ways to evolve the Call of Duty franchise, and step one is to look towards its publishing partner Blizzard. World of Warcraft's ability to persistently evolve and change on the back of consumer feedback is a feature that the CEO finds invaluable.
"Blizzard really created the model for how to do this successfully and effectively, making sure the community of 'World of Warcraft' players has incredible influence on the future of the product," Kotick said. "There's so much more that we can deliver to our players."
"Multiplayer has been largely developed by Treyarch," he told CNN, adding that the studio was also behind the online elements of last year's biggest game, Modern Warfare 2.
"I don't think Treyarch got their due for how much they contributed in the production and polish to the multiplayer." While it is true that the online side of the FPS series is the main draw, Kotick is keen to detail just how much of a difference that makes to the impact of the franchise.
"More people play 'Black Ops' every day than watch Jay Leno, David Letterman and Jimmy Fallon, combined,. The audience of 'Call of Duty' is probably greater in terms of size ... than in any other interactive form of entertainment."
The exec then compared the series to Facebook and other social media. "If you look at the 500 million people who are on Facebook and the way that people text each other and instant message and use video chat, there is now an evolution of media... Those are the characteristics and attributes that a generation and audiences feel are very important to their media and entertainment experiences. And we expect that."
Nevertheless, Kotick said that there are ways to evolve the Call of Duty franchise, and step one is to look towards its publishing partner Blizzard. World of Warcraft's ability to persistently evolve and change on the back of consumer feedback is a feature that the CEO finds invaluable.
"Blizzard really created the model for how to do this successfully and effectively, making sure the community of 'World of Warcraft' players has incredible influence on the future of the product," Kotick said. "There's so much more that we can deliver to our players."
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