Activision Blizzard has a gold mine in the Call of Duty franchise. The decade old series is finally gearing up for more innovation and polish heading into 2014 and beyond. Today Activision Publishing announced developer Sledgehammer will be focusing on the next-gen version of the popular series.
Just last week, Activision Blizzard announced a profit of $1.5 million and will be changing the development cycle of its hit series. The two-year cycle can no long keep up with the demand. They’re attempting to focus on innovation and polish with a three-year development process.
As a result, the video game studio Sledgehammer – who’s assisted with previous CoD iterations – will be producing 2014’s iteration. According to IGN, CEO Eric Hirschberg, said the studio’s given plenty of freedom with the next-gen focused series:
“Sledgehammer is approaching this as a next-gen-first development. We give each of our studios a lot of independence.”
“…You know what makes this thing great; now go do it your way.”
Well, that’s just fine and dandy
Recent news regarding Activision’s desire for the developers to innovate and have creative freedom is refreshing. Hopefully this attitude shows through in the final product. I can only imagine trying to keep a 10-year-old franchise afloat isn’t an easy task regardless of sales numbers.
