It’s that time of year again. Just as sure as Thanksgiving will be celebrated at the end of November, you can bet that the second Tuesday will bring about another Call of Duty game. The series is the premier shooter franchise in gaming and is a huge reason for the success of its publisher, Activision. This year, Black Ops is getting a huge marketing campaign and Activision hasn’t been shy about letting people know that they expect it to shatter sales records.
This is an important year for developer Treyarch. Infinity Ward, the studio that created the Call of Duty brand, is widely considered to be the main driving force behind the series. Treyarch is often considered the “B team,” put in place by Activision to ensure that a game with the Call of Duty name is released every year. Treyarch games have gotten better each attempt, but they have always existed in the shadow of Infinity Ward’s games.
This year things are a little different. Infinity Ward has run into a little trouble following the release of Modern Warfare 2. A large number of Infinity Ward’s senior staff have left and are currently engaged in a legal battle with Activision. With Infinity Ward’s future up in the air, Treyarch has a chance to take the reigns of the Call of Duty brand. This year Treyarch is adding a gambling feature to the multiplayer. Players can put their money where their mouth is and bet the points they earn. They will also be bringing back the zombie mode that helped drive World at War.
I have no doubt that Black Ops will be a hugely successful game, but if Treyarch can’t build upon the success of Modern Warfare 2, then it could spell trouble for the franchise moving forward. There are a lot of parallels between what we are seeing with Call of Duty and what was already happened to other Activision franchises like Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero. If Call of Duty doesn’t change enough to keep things interesting, then over-saturation could begin, and the series could falter.
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