Activision Wary of Call of Duty Going the Way of Guitar Hero

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Activision is flying high with all things Call of Duty, but fellow Activision property Guitar Hero also once had a seemingly limitless future before it flamed out. How is Activision responding to this potential trap?

An internal Activision memo from back in February obtained by Giant Bomb from CEO Eric Hirshberg shows that he and the company is aware of what can happen to even the biggest of franchises like Call of Duty. "Isn't Call of Duty today just like Guitar Hero was a few years back?" asks the memo to itself. "This is a great question," answers Hirshberg, "and one we have thought about a lot. But there are several key differences between the two franchises worth considering. Guitar Hero quickly reached incredible heights, but then began a steady decline. Call of Duty, on the other hand, has steadily grown every single year of its seven-year existence."

To Hirshberg, the key in sustaining the Call of Duty is simple: Quality. "...We need to focus: on making games that constantly raise the quality bar; on staying ahead of the innovation curve; on surrounding the brand with a suite of services and an online community that makes our fans never want to leave. Entertainment franchises with staying power are rare. But Call of Duty shows all of the signs of being able to be one of them. It’s up to us."

Beyond that, Hirshberg says that there other factors that currently help the Call of Duty brand. He believes the fact that the series is an FPS and the online community are factors that help make the franchise "perhaps the 'stickiest' of all time."

While time will indeed tell whether Call of Duty really is here to stay, fans should be heartened by the fact that Hirshberg's memo appears to show a company that knows that making good games is the win-win scenario for everyone that will ensure any series' continued success. Then again, consistent quality is no easy task, and that's made even harder the more games you put out for a franchise.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/04/20/activision-wary-of-call-of-duty-going-the-way-of-guitar-hero.aspx

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"Activision Wary of Call of Duty Going the Way of Guitar Hero" :: Login/Create an Account :: 32 comments

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CombPosted:

I LOLed so hard when I read: "To Hirshberg, the key in sustaining the Call of Duty is simple: Quality. "...We need to focus: on making games that constantly raise the quality bar; on staying ahead of the innovation curve; on surrounding the brand with a suite of services and an online community that makes our fans never want to leave. " Really? CoD is not what I would call a quality game.

aimiami12Posted:

they say they are a little worried this could happen. so they are going to come out with 2 games?
makes sense...

-AskingAlexandria-Posted:

I CAN see CoD going the way of Guitar Hero. Many many people dislike Black Ops and may put them off buying any other CoD's. I myself, am getting bored of the CoD series because it's just the same game over and over again but with different maps and guns. Why don't they just keep bringing out DLC?

aBoxOfMintsPosted:

x_PhOeNiXx_o
xMasterJPx
ZeroFate In my opinion, if they keep making Call of Duty games like Black ops, its going to be like guitar hero. Modern warfare 1 and 2 are my favs. WaW was an ok game but black ops just gives CoD a bad name.


the thing is, Call of Duty: Black Ops and WaW were made by a completely different company that doesn't understand the meaning of better game-play. Infinity Ward created Modern Warfare 1 & 2 with a better online game-play that allowed better quality, etc. The controversy that was at issue last year was when they sold their contract over to Activision, but the flames have seized since then. The issue at hand is can Activision still gain the attention of the online gamers within the world. Treyarch, the company that developed the two worst Call of Duty games in my opinion, WaW & Black Ops, has no chance of continuing such a franchise, however Activision does!


I agree about Treyarch. Alot of opinions and reviews I've seen have showed that they get the majority of their sales through the Zombie mode. I've heard ALOT of people saying that they're only buying the map packs because of the Zombie mode so essentially Treyarch's 'success' in CoD is reliant on their Zombie mode, which in my opinion alot of other games can do exactly the same just alot better. For example Left for Dead.


You do have a point, before I sold Black Ops I used to always play zombie mode, I think if they were to interpret a zombie multi-player game like that of Left 4 Dead TreyArch wouldn't be so bad. Not to mention on the Battlefield comment below, I completely agree. Battlefield is by far the best and most realistic game I've played online and I think if they were to steal a little info from Dice somehow that Activision would have a nbetter balanced game and well designed game-play!

VampiricPosted:

xMasterJPx
ZeroFate In my opinion, if they keep making Call of Duty games like Black ops, its going to be like guitar hero. Modern warfare 1 and 2 are my favs. WaW was an ok game but black ops just gives CoD a bad name.


the thing is, Call of Duty: Black Ops and WaW were made by a completely different company that doesn't understand the meaning of better game-play. Infinity Ward created Modern Warfare 1 & 2 with a better online game-play that allowed better quality, etc. The controversy that was at issue last year was when they sold their contract over to Activision, but the flames have seized since then. The issue at hand is can Activision still gain the attention of the online gamers within the world. Treyarch, the company that developed the two worst Call of Duty games in my opinion, WaW & Black Ops, has no chance of continuing such a franchise, however Activision does!


I agree about Treyarch. Alot of opinions and reviews I've seen have showed that they get the majority of their sales through the Zombie mode. I've heard ALOT of people saying that they're only buying the map packs because of the Zombie mode so essentially Treyarch's 'success' in CoD is reliant on their Zombie mode, which in my opinion alot of other games can do exactly the same just alot better. For example Left for Dead.

shadow1Posted:

xMasterJPx
ZeroFate In my opinion, if they keep making Call of Duty games like Black ops, its going to be like guitar hero. Modern warfare 1 and 2 are my favs. WaW was an ok game but black ops just gives CoD a bad name.


the thing is, Call of Duty: Black Ops and WaW were made by a completely different company that doesn't understand the meaning of better game-play. Infinity Ward created Modern Warfare 1 & 2 with a better online game-play that allowed better quality, etc. The controversy that was at issue last year was when they sold their contract over to Activision, but the flames have seized since then. The issue at hand is can Activision still gain the attention of the online gamers within the world. Treyarch, the company that developed the two worst Call of Duty games in my opinion, WaW & Black Ops, has no chance of continuing such a franchise, however Activision does!


Actually the last best cod was WaW because it brought in something new. The multiplayer was great because there werent alof of automatic guns so you dont just have to point and forget/ The cod franchise IMO got down after mw2 didnt do shit about their modders or hackers, not to mention their over powered explosives. BO i say is like 5% better than MW2 due to dedicated servers and no super noob tubes, but the guns are still over powered.

CastleCrashersPosted:

xMasterJPx Take it from SquareEnix, they've had their Final Fantasy Franchise going on for about 20 years now ever since the first game hit the NES back in the early 90's. If the guys can be as creative as SquareEnix, Activision has a chance to go as far SquareEnix has, not to mention SquareEnix is still delivering games every so many years including the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3 that is said to be released for both the Xbox 360 and PS3. Activision has a chance of doing as great of job as SquareEnix has. They should just make sure they do not loose the audience's attention cause after that point, there is no more Call of Duty!

Yea but there building a HOLE different type of game. THey just build SinglePlayer and get on with it they dont have to deal with multi-player and trying there best to balance everything. Black Ops is probly the most balanced CoDs besides from the first couple. CoD4 is pretty much balanced besides juggernaut but thats because it was there first BIG multiplayer title in the CoD franchise but eveygame cant be like it. TreyArch tried to make there most balanced game yet by taking out Stoppping Power and painkiller, martydom, ect. and they did good at fixing the games unbalanced stats but everything they just messed up on. Right now in my opinion BattleField is the best First Person Shooter out besides the random spawn kill or vehicle death or c4 sabatage, its all evened out for vehicles you have like 4 types of rpgs and tank mines for air support you have AA turrents and lock-on missles for increased bullet-damage you have flak vests. Everything is evened out perfectly in BattleField even against those campers you just blow up there cover with a well-tossed gernade. So if CoD go in-line with Dice's Games they might get out of this Guitar Hero Fate.

aBoxOfMintsPosted:

ZeroFate In my opinion, if they keep making Call of Duty games like Black ops, its going to be like guitar hero. Modern warfare 1 and 2 are my favs. WaW was an ok game but black ops just gives CoD a bad name.


the thing is, Call of Duty: Black Ops and WaW were made by a completely different company that doesn't understand the meaning of better game-play. Infinity Ward created Modern Warfare 1 & 2 with a better online game-play that allowed better quality, etc. The controversy that was at issue last year was when they sold their contract over to Activision, but the flames have seized since then. The issue at hand is can Activision still gain the attention of the online gamers within the world. Treyarch, the company that developed the two worst Call of Duty games in my opinion, WaW & Black Ops, has no chance of continuing such a franchise, however Activision does!

OasisPosted:

Call of Duty has the ability to be the best it just takes the consistent positive attitude and a all bearing drive to be better than the last. I think the memo shows these traits. Call of Duty shouldn't die, but it will if people keep referring to it as a franchise, it's more than that, it's an entertainment megastar it just needs to strive to always be the best, not an easy feat but do-able with a supportive community and continued unlimited resources from it's investors.

-Olu-Posted:

In my opinion, if they keep making Call of Duty games like Black ops, its going to be like guitar hero. Modern warfare 1 and 2 are my favs. WaW was an ok game but black ops just gives CoD a bad name.


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