Will MW2's Sabotage Hurt Respawn Entertainment's Sales?

Paul writes, "...when Respawn Entertainment opens their doors for business and releases their first game under the EA umbrella, why should trust that they will make a truly innovative masterpiece again as they have with the original Medal of Honor and COD titles? Even if they do drop such a great title, won't we just expect them to churn out repetitive entries like they have done in the past? It seems like there is a huge possibility here for a backlash effect. Once a great reputation to have, now a portion of gamers are not all that respectful of the guys who invented "that game that comes out every year and never changes."

[meiamsome]

The answer for me is yes. Of course you will always have those people who will stick by these guys, and they deserve it, but MW2 really let a lot of people down. Perhaps more people liked MW2 than hated it but nonetheless the effect is there for a certain % of the crowd who does not appreciate the game and what West and Zempalla have done by making it.

[Cevapi88]

at least its a fresh start, if the game that they are developing now is a FPS, then of course people will compare it to CoD..i hope that the game is not an FPS, EA already has Medal of Honor, Bad Company and Battlefield...i just dont see how there is room for another shooter for EA to release all in one year...

who knows...stranger things have happened...but i really think this is the case of CoD being bigger than the two guys who gave birth to it years ago

[StanLee]

When Modern Warfare 2 was first announced, Infinity Ward wanted to drop Call of Duty from its title and even announced the game as Modern Warfare 2. What happened was, consumer awareness of the title dropped tremendously following that announcement. People don't care what iteration it is, Call of Duty is what people identify with. The core minority may care about the pedigree of Infinity Ward's titles as compared to Treyarch's but the majority of gamers who buy Call of Duty don't care. World at War received a lukewarm reception from the core community but sold over 14 million units; Black Ops has surpassed the massive launch of Modern Warfare 2. At the end of the day, only a small minority of the millions who play Call of Duty know who West or Zampalla are or care what their next game will be. They will however, be lined up in droves for the next Call of Duty title.

[Tapey]

This. MW2 was hands-down the worst COD game by a considerable margin. Treyarch have done a good job of cleaning up their mess with Black Ops but there's no way I will touch whatever the ex-IW guys make at launch, I'll wait until a few weeks have passed and people have had a decent amount of time with it, because I don't think they have the ability to make a good game. I have absolutely zero respect for them as developers either considering the trashtalking they did about Treyarch back when they were working on MW2.

[execution17]

lol both were crap, and treyarch do suck ^^ only good they've done right is probably and only the zombie modes they did.

[Muitnorts]

I personally prefer Modern Warfare 2. It's certainly no CoD4 but I thought it was miles better than Blops.
They're both fairly ridiculous but Blops tried to have a serious, layered story and failed for me. And had pretty much no memorable moments.

[Baka-akaB]

lol treyarch deserved the trash talking and still do .
At least IW's screw ups are their own .

Treyarch got the grunt work done for them with the engine , the multiplayer code and the basic gameplay , and still can't do much and without glitches and bugs and some rather meh level design .

BO might be better than mw2 , but so what ? MW2 was trash so its easy . When is treyarch ever going to propose something equal or better than MW1 ?

[morganfell]

Respawn has a huge advantage. They know to be the next CoD they have to innovate and be different from CoD. Far too many studios only want their own CoD. From their perch they believe they have to copy CoD when nothing could be further from the truth. You have to innovate and bring something truly new, not just CoD with a few new perks.

CoD4 grabbed people because it was a fresh take. It was not a take on another game. Copycat = bargain bin.

It is amazing how many studio heads fail to realize this or are afraid to take the risk at something new not realizing that failure to do so guarantees failure.

Respawn has the biggest hurdle cleared - the financial freedom to do what they want.

[SiLeNt KNighT]

MW2 left a bad taste in my mouth for the COD series. Black Ops earned a lot of that respect back. If Treyarch can sort out their server issues this really could be a pretty good game. The bad thing for Treyarch is not many people know that they even make the game. Sure people that read gaming sites will know the story, but for most Infinity Ward is the main developer and many people think COD just came back and have no clue it's a different developer. If no patches come for the glitches I've started to see and for new ones to come than this will be in the exact same boat as MW2. So far it's a pretty good game imo but there's much room for improvement and they have the capabilities to do patches but the question is will they?

[NateCole]

But how much of their strained relation with Activision affected MWF2?. To this day most people would agree that COD4 is the best FPS this gen. Lets not forget this.

Its kinda sad to see people put them down already even before they have a chance to show their goods.

[gamingdroid]

I don't know, but long after the game was released, MW2 still sells boat loads. Doesn't that mean people liked the game?

To me it seems more like a minority on n4g.com hates the game. In fact, the community on n4g.com in general hates just about anything. It's a very toxic environment here, which reminds me why am I still here?

[Millah]

Just about every important game designer from IW are with Respawn. These are the important people who actually designed the gameplay system, so to think that with more creative freedom they couldn't design another groundbreaking FPS would be stupid, especially now that they are motivated to beat their own creation. And they also aren't being controlled by the idiots at Activision. Don't forget that Acti hampered their creative freedom a lot, like how IW wanted COD2 to actually be set in modern times but Acti wouldn't allow them to.

The team at Respawn are very talented developers. They designed MOH Allied Assault, which was groundbreaking. They designed COD1, which was groundbreaking. They designed COD4, which was groundbreaking. It would be silly to think these guys can't design another groundbreaking title.

And seeing what happened to Medal of Honor after West and Zampellas team left EA, and how Call of Duty quickly toppled MOH, I wouldn't be surprised to see the same thing happen again only the tables have reversed this time.

[gamingdroid]

Creative freedom is good, but too much of it is also a bad thing. Case in point, Brutal Legend.

Surely it was a above average game, but it certainly had a much longer development time than average. I don't think the sales of that game paid for the development cost.

Just a thought.. I believe and hope that Respawn will make an excellent game, but it wouldn't suprise me if IW made another excellent game as well.

I believe the company culture is what creates a great game i.e. it is a team. I believe around 75% of the original employees are still with IW. After all Treyarch is able to make a great game, why wouldn't a studio with the majority of it's employees left be unable to?

[showtimefolks]

since under activision they had to release their games at certein time and stuff with EAP they can take their time i thought EA should have given them the keys to medal of honor franchise and see if respawn can out their fingure prints on that franchise

but anyway hopefully we will find out what both respawn and insomniac are devolping under EA

[Hitman0769]

For me they will have to re-earn my respect all over again. I respect them as game developers, and they've done way more than me, but compare them to other game devs like Naughty Dog and Insomniac and even Bungie and I think you see that they could have done much more. I believe there is no reason to assume their next game will be good and I await for them to prove it to me before caring about it...

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

Also, EA isn't that less corporatively conducted publisher than Activision. I can totally see EA reasigning those guys to MoH next year in order to compete with what can be the worst COD this gen (or the best, or the same, the fact is we don't even know who will do it) and try to reclaim it's crown, while not really asking much of an effort or support from Respawn to this game.

Personally, back in the COD4 I started disliking IW... Or better saying it, the lack of IW on CoD4, as sometimes I just asked myself if developers even played that game, cause the lack of support was ridiculous, the glitchs and bugs plagued the game and looked like IW simply wasn't doing anything with the feedback of it's fans. And them came in the map pack, some few crap maps for a lot of money... That could be said to be on Activision account, but I don't think EA will do any different, afterall those are the guys selling server slots after inventing online pass. IW should be the one to stand up against this crap tactic but they don't seen to care...

Anyway, the only shooter I'll be really needing next year is SOCOM4, the rest will depend on my wallet mood and it looks lke it will be on the down side of the stick.

[dkblackhawk50]

No...Activision will hire goons to do so instead.

[scar20]

I just want them to make a good game that can finally kill off cod but not be milked like cod.

[BetaChris]

Respawn will be doing everything in their power to distinguish themselves from IW. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they try to establish their new venture as the ANTI-IW...

...So, short answer is, no - I doubt very much Respawn will have any problems sales wise.

[El_Colombiano]

By being anti-IW, they would be closing the gap between IW and themselves.

[scar20]

*With all of this in mind, when Respawn Entertainment opens their doors for business and releases their first game under the EA umbrella, why should trust that they will make a truly innovative masterpiece again as they have with the original Medal of Honor and COD titles? *

As long as it isn't rushed out the door and they take their time on this game i will support it.

[Reborn]

If its not rushed, and done well. I'm sure they wont lose their fans, and what not. In fact, they'll gain a lot of new ones.

[Spitfire_Riggz]

I thought MW2 was better than Black ops. But thats just me.

[Shackdaddy836]

I thought they both sucked but MW2 kept me occupied a little longer.

[Spitfire_Riggz]

Hahaha well I guess Ill just let you know im a bad company 2 guy.

[AKissFromDaddy]

Nah, that's not just you, me too.

[vickers500]

In what ways? (other than the lack of connection issues Black Ops is having at the moment)

[Spitfire_Riggz]

Well in my eyes its not that it was worse but I was very disappointed black ops doesnt really do anything new. Same kind of gameplay same short campaign worse graphics IMO. The only thing I enjoyed when I played was zombies but thats not enough for me. It just seemed like more of a DLC than a new game. Just new killstreaks, maps and eh. Small tweaks (and it still has bugs). Yeah Im pretty sure its just me.

EDIT: World at war had zombies so still not anything new. WAW and MW2 kinda put together I guess

[vickers500]

Hmm, new maps and weapons are usually enough for me, but some people are different I suppose.

[Takoulya]

Hell no. Black Ops has a considerable amount more balance and variety to it rather than MW2. That and the fact that it actually takes more skills this time around.

[gorebago]

Is it fall 2009 all over again? This editorial is redundant and horribly written.

[BizDaWolf]

Fool me once shame on you fool twice shame on me enough said

[f00pgames]

Yeah!!

[earbus]

Will sell like laced cup cakes regardless .

[Dannehkins]

I doubt it. I don't think the average gamer really cares about the love affairs of a company. As long they produce a high quality game, then people will appreciate it.

Although, I am sure that there are some gamers out there who are all in the know of the latest things happening in the gaming industry so they not be so inclined to part with their cash.

[Soldierone]

Article was a waste of my time on two accounts.

1 They got it wrong. Infinity Ward wanted to make it better and a bigger step, but thats hard to do with the time frame they had. Black Ops didn't make any major leaps either, and the whole reason Acti brought in a third company was to give IW more time. However Activision wants milk from its cash cow, and thats that. IW had no choice, thus they left.

2 Did you write this up before going to bed? You left out so many words and either and editor has yet to look at it, or you should stop making game journalist look like idiots.

[visualb]

its examiner dude...its even lower-quality than a blog

just, don't dwell on it =)

OT:

my verdict - yes. MW2 sucked, yet got great scores (the day trusting reviewers was proven to be bullsh*t yet again) so, Im going to wait n watch this one before I get interested

[Bull5hifT]

I really didnt hate mw2, it was just to much stuff to customize, and after learning of aimbots, everytime i was slaughter'd, i wouldnt know if that was the reason... A computer wired to a ps3 controller trained to aim quick at the head and shoot,...... Im not sure if i stoped playing online because of the overload of customizable things or if it was cause everybody was hating it..... I loved playing the CO-OP missions online and locally they were funner to me than the zombies, in my own opinion" i waited until black ops got great reviews and after finding that the guns werent all oldschool 1960's 70's guns with red dot scopes , because i really hated playing world at war, i hate slow inaccurate ww2 guns and it felt more like work than fun playing that game

[Bull5hifT]

DuDe, , i xpect some halo type of game now that there free for some reason... I cant belive Bungie was part of rockstar at one point and that there was actually a crappy looking halo on ps2..... iLL buy anything ROCKSTAR* ,Take 2, Bethesda , and all those umbrella companys make except quake ' i never felt those games, New BioShock, L.A NOIRE, AGENT, Max Payne 3, Midnight Club, Red Dead, Elder Scrolls , The Darkness 2, Duke Nukem Forever, Gta 5 Vice, Hope to see a Brutal ManHunt on next gen consoles

[madjedi]

@bull

Oh the horror you mean some weapons actually require you to aim correctly, and not give you 50 rounds per clip to kill an enemy. Spoken like cod reject used to no recoil guns and unrealistic full auto weapons, google weaponology.

Fyi smg and full auto weapons sacrifice range and acc for throwing as many rounds downrange as quickly as possible, unless in single or 3 shot mode depending on the gun ex assault rifles.

I think too many people learn about firearms from video games and hollywood movies, usually the have 20 rounds in a handgun or 50-60 rounds in a assault rifle, never have to reload action movies.

M1 grand and springfield 1903 rifle are deadly and accurate, i am betting the fault is with the operator and not the actual guns.

[Bull5hifT]

Yeah they made COD4 ill buy whatever they make, i still play that game sometimes... I wish they had my favorite G36 gun in blackops,