Call of Duty is a first-person shooter franchise with the most current game, Call of Duty: WWII, available on Microsoft Windows (PC), PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Since the first game of the series (2003), 18 consoles have graced the series with 3 main companies dominating the consoles: Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.
After the initial release, the series has mainly been developed by Treyarch and Infinity Ward. Every so often another developing company, like Amaze Entertainment or Gray Matter Interactive Studios, will develop a Call of Duty game, but the popularity of these select games are minimal. This has led Activision, the famous American video game publisher, to rely on the two main companies, Treyarch and Infinity Ward. My two favorite Call of Duty games are Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (created by Infinity Ward) and Call of Duty: Black Ops (created by Treyarch).
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops
But according to president and CEO of Activision Publishing Eric Hirshberg in 2014, Call of Duty changed to a 3 year development cycle, adding Sledgehammer Games as the third developer. Sledgehammer Games developed the most recent game of the series, Call of Duty: WWII, which I am currently playing. But the game I am playing today would be different if Activision had not added Sledgehammer Games.
Call of Duty: WWII
Call of Duty: WWII Gameplay with ice pick weapon
Activision did this to “ensure a high level of quality for the series” (McWhertor). Additionally, “[the change] will give designers more time to envision and innovate each title, give content creators more focus on DLC and micro-DLC, and will give teams more time to polish, helping to ensure that Activision delivers the best possible experience to their fans each and every time” (McWhertor). The addition of Sledgehammer Games is a smart strategy by Activision to create a Call of Duty game that becomes part of their successful 80:20 rule (Hayes and Disney). (“This is where the 20% of all game titles published represents 80 per cent of all sales” (Kline)). The idea is that to cover against frequent failures of games, a company must develop several games that make up for the losses. And Activision has added Sledgehammer into their developing rotation in order to diminish the failures and increase their profits.
This strategy of creating a better game experience for video game consumers comes because of late 1900’s Nintendo. After Nintendo developed a research and intelligence network, they developed high-caliber games that were strongly associated with hardware platforms such as the NES. Similarly, Activision is attempting to do this with their Call of Duty games and Xbox, PlayStation, and PC’s. Call of Duty has become a house-hold video game name while Xbox, PlayStation, and PC are standard consoles households, and with the addition of Sledgehammer Games, this is not likely to change.
Sources:
Hayes and Dinsey, with Parker, Games War, 32.
Kline, Stephen, et al. Digital Play: The Interaction of Technology, Culture, and Marketing. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt818w1.
McWhertor, Michael. “Call of Duty Moving to 3-Year, 3-Studio Dev Cycle, Sledgehammer on 2014 Game.” Polygon, Polygon, 6 Feb. 2014, www.polygon.com/2014/2/6/5387530/call-of-duty-moving-to-3-year-3-studio-dev-cycle-sledgehammer-on-2014).