Infinity Ward kept Modern Warfare 2 secret from Activision

Infinity Ward is definitely calling the shots when it comes to Modern Warfare 2's development. Speaking to OXM, Community Manager Robert Bowling said that publisher Activision was only shown the game once development was well under way.

[Nelson M]

We all knew it was gonna look and run like Crap on the Xbox

[DARK WITNESS]

pop !

[XBLGT B1GMACNFR1ES]

... goes the weesal (i.e his cum bubbles sony slapped on him last night)

[Xlll]

"... goes the weesal (i.e his cum bubbles sony slapped on him last night)
" just by having XBL in your name shows just how far M$'s d!ck is planted in your ass last night.

[kissmeimgreek]

calm down XII. hes just showing his gamertag in his name. theres nothing wrong with that. its not like hes saying 'xblisduhbest" or something. jeez why do people have to be such d!cks on this site...

[sunil]

Attempts to distance itself from Activition? (the most hated company in the gaming industry since 2009)

[LukaX23]

"...we want to stay focused, really the only opinion we care about is what our fans think."

If that were true, we would have dedicated servers on every platform the game is being developed on.

[Winter47th]

Sounds to me like IW is even worse than Activision, if they really are calling the shots, then damn have they hit a new low with that statement.

[TotalPS3Fanboy]

"...we want to stay focused, really the only opinion we care about is what our fans think."

If that were true, we would have mods on the PC version of MW2.

If that were true, we would have trophy patched into CoD4 on the PS3 version already.

If that were true, we would have in-game-music patched into CoD4 on the PS3 version already.

If that were true, the price would have not risen.

[Ace Killa 08]

Whoa they do care for their fans, but its not their fault sony announces trophys and all developers at the time had to come up with this concept for the PS3. you really want these ps3 features that are not available as a standard for the ps3, or at the time COD4 was release.

[FantasyStar]

They didn't have time to release a trophy patch for CoD4, but they DID have time to release a quick fix for the hacking going on in the PS3 Version, so I don't see how IW can 'not' have time.

[TotalPS3Fanboy]

They have Achievements for the 360 version.

And it's not like that didn't have "trophies" in their game. They already have those "trophies" that you can achieve in the game, for example, killing 5 peoples with a single granade, etc.

Those "trophies" can esaily be tie in to the real PS3 Trophy system.

And In-Game-Music only requires a few lines of code to call the PS3 API. That's all. The PS3 takes care of the music. It's not like IW have to built it from scratch.

[Ace Killa 08]

having music playing in the background is not a feature that is listed in any of the game manuals, its not a need more of a want and an unnecessary want, listen to music off your dam phone, ipod, comp, or Mp3. the hacking i never heard of these hacks at all for ps3 and i knew they existed in 360 but none at all for ps3, now this issue should of been addressed but, for the 360 this issue was not addressed months and i mean 6+ months after the hacks started.

now for trophies at the time it was not a must for all companies to do so, sony themselves screwed all developer tellin them we have a new achievement wanna be system in play you CAN make a patch to implement it on the current games, but by next year its a must on all games. so really if the developers wanted too then they would, i do strongly believe it would of been a waste of time though. IW stated MW2 was in development after COD4 soo why go back and polish and old game.

and really like COD4 got a lot of support from IW, COD2 had around 4 or 6 map packs before COD3 came out, dont know how many updates it had but i do recall COD4 just having around 3 updates one to patch up the loose ends, another to prevent modders, and last one to prevent the modded controllers.

But really if you implement a system late in the game dont expect it to be in all the games, if you are goin to call out IW bad developers then also go to insomniac they did not make a quick fix for resistance 1

[TotalPS3Fanboy]

Their game already have trophies, all it takes is a few lines of code to tie it into the real Trophy System.

And all it take is a few more lines of code to call the PS3 API for In-Game-Music.

That's all. A few lines of code. We're not talking about months and months of code rewrite with 100 programmers.

If they really care, they would have done such an easy patch.

[Sitdown]

Wait, why are they the most hated company?

@LukaX23 and TotalPS3Fanboy
You guys do realize that you can care about somebody's opinion but not be moved to change right? Besides, what is the ration of people asking for dedicated servers...versus those who don't care? So in this case, they could very well be with the majority. In addition, I would like for the game to be free......does that mean it should or is going to happen because they care for opinion's of the fans?

[TotalPS3Fanboy]

Dude, we paid for their game. We supported them. We're not asking much. Only a few lines of codes (taling about patching trophies and in game music here, not mods and dedicated servers). That's all. We're not saying they're bad developers. We're just asking them to support their game and fan because we're supporting them and their game.

And there is no way to justify raising the price after taking out features such as mods and dedicated servers. That is just too much.

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

I agree with you. If anything you should blame Sony for mismanagement. I mean they could have implemented this feature way in advance, communicate with developers more and give them the tools. After all the PS3 had a whole year to study their competitor and instead they didn't capitalize on almost any of the strengths of the 360.

If anything, they should have had Konami patch in Trophies on MGS4!!! Yeah! I'm still hoping it will come and I seriously think people would buy this game again considering it is likely the best sold PS3 exclusive ever!

[TotalPS3Fanboy]

"I agree with you. If anything you should blame Sony for mismanagement. I mean they could have implemented this feature way in advance, communicate with developers more and give them the tools."

Unfortunately, Sony has nothing to do with IW's inablility to patch in trophies. In fact, Sony gave them the tools, the apis, the documentation so they can add in a few lines of code to get trophies patch in. Unfortunately, IW chose to sit out and do nothing. Sony even encouraged them. But in the end, it's their choice, and they chose to not patch in trophies. That can not be forgiven.

There is no way fans can support them and their game when they don't even support their own game.

[Elimin8]

Don't forget Dualshock support.... lol.

[ape007]

"We know the game we want to make, and especially with Modern Warfare 2, we didn't even show Activision the game until very much later in the development process. Because we want to stay focused, really the only opinion we care about is what our fans think"

LOOK

"Because we want to stay focused really,the only opinion we care about is what our fans think"

they mean that activision won't let them focus about what the fans want(and look "REALLY",they meant that activision is anti-gamer,IW don't want to listen to activision

hmmmm good playing with words

IW is trying as hard as they can with robert boling to chill people down after what activision done with them

activision please be respectful 90% of your games is bullsh!t,the only gem you have is IW,don't let that bullsh!t happen again,IW are legends

[Viatrophy]

Mate, you need to get it out of your head that it's just 'a few lines of code quickly put in', something as small as that could take months as it also has to pass through quality testing and then actually put out as a patch.

And the reason why the Xbox 360 version had achievements was because it was mandatory that all retail games (since the 360's launch) have achievements built into them. At the time of Call of Duty 4 came out, it was only optional for developers to put it in.

[TotalPS3Fanboy]

then can easily patch in something as simple as Trophy support, no sweat. They just don't want to because they want people to buy MW2 instead.

[Dead_Cell]

No project will get started without the publisher on-board.

[PinkUni]

like they weren't going to make a #2?

what a f*cking secret LOL

[Sitdown]

that some projects do get started with hopes of a publisher picking it up. Perhaps I am lost.

[jerethdagryphon]

projects started internally and a publisher backer sought later ..

fa18 hornet, a failed bid, revitalised using companys own money and sucessfully sold to navy

a lot of smaller games titles

mount and blade for instance
i know theres others but i cant think right now

[PotNoodle]

Sounds like stealth damage control..

[Redempteur]

it is ...

all of the sudden , they care about fan reaction ?

thanks for the laugh IW ...

[Ace Killa 08]

right from the be beginning IW had a message to head on to facebook or twitter to give ideas how MW2 should be, soo they did listen to what the fans wanted since the beginning

[Redempteur]

it's like a politician having a blog or a idea box ... ok it's there ...but he decides anyway so when did they listen ? Are you sure they did listen ?

If they are listening ..what this dedicated server fiasco ?
When in this article is the proof that they listened ? I mean come on ... Just one exemple is'nt that hard ...

They says that the relation between them and their fans is important , yet , when the fans are complaining ... they do ...NOTHING .Great right ?
Sorry bu there are great devs on all consoles and pc that are listening to their fans ..and IW isn't one of them ..

[Sevir04]

theya re owned by activision, they just dont want to be policed and told what to do. it's kinda the same way both bioware and panedemic wanted their relationship with Ea, just be their own entity without policing and interferance with development. I applaud them, I really want to pass on MW2, but i love IW and they helped with the online portion of uncharted 2. SO i'm gonna support them, they are good devs... even if MW2 looks like COD4:MW with new skins and map.

[FwanK]

Even the fans think you are douches

[LtSkittles]

Why is this only on the 360 channel?

[LtSkittles]

Ok there we go.

[Mr Face Creamer]

Is this supposed to bring fans and IW together? You guys should have kept the game a secret from Activision and the multiplayer department till November 10.

[itchy18]

Sev from kz2 is in modern warfare 2??? lmao

[The_Nameless_One]

thats what I thought.

[tonywood24]

This is what Bungie should have done to Micorsoft. Should have and COULD HAVE made a killing, cross-platform!

I said it before about DJ Hero....this idea was stolen from Genius Studio's Scratch: The Ultimate DJ. If they would ahve kept their mouth shut, until late in the Development, DJ Hero would not have come out 1st. Scratch seems to be MUCH BETTER, but Activision (As usual) screwed them. Bungie got in too deep with MS and ended up like Paul McCarthy. (When he told MJ about owning and buying your "Masters"...only to to have MJ buy the Beatles stuff!) MS is taking credit for a game franchise they had nothing to do with, and won't let them try to make some money. Props for putting your destiny into your own hands, Infinity Ward. COD: World at War make a killing off Infinity Ward's Ideas!! (For paybacks..I would put Zombie Mode in MW2)

[evrfighter]

I'm sure just about every dev out there is taking notes.

On how NOT to have a boycott against your game with 150k signatures and mass stories of how they cancelled their pre-order.

[JonnyBigBoss]

Well, this makes me respect them quite a bit. I gotta say I don't like Activision, but I think I'm going to end up buying this game...

[unknownhero1123]

it's just damage control dude. If they really did care about the fans, as they have said in the article, then they wouldn't have shafted the PC gamers. as i recall, they were fans too, right?

[dragon82]

Look, things happen. Get over it and buy a different game. A bunch of crying PC owners does not make IW a horrible company. There are probably alot more happy fans than there are unhappy fans. Stop acting like everyone shares your opinion.

And as far as COD4 goes, you paid for the experience that came in the box. Anything after that is just a bonus added by IW. Stop acting like you are entitled to whatever you want just because you want it. IW has absolutely no obligation to add trophies or custom soundtracks to COD4. Yes it would be nice but it is not something they have to do.

[toaster]

"We know the game we want to make, and especially with Modern Warfare 2, we didn't even show Activision the game until very much later in the development process. Because we want to stay focused, really the only opinion we care about is what our fans think."

IW.... Really??
Apparently not. If they released the information about the no dedicated servers (which is a major game changing decision) then they wouldn't lose about 60% of their fanbase. I give them kudos for the effort but people were expecting the dedicated servers because.. well. That's what differentiates the PC from most of the console games.

It's clear that they don't really care about what their fans think (I'm talking about CoD4 with the ungodlike connection issues) and again with the petition of over 150,000.

Looks to me that IW is a monument to ignorance. They know fans are complaining and while stating that they listen to their fans, clearly they are not.

[Barcefut-09]

your retarded, the heart of pc gaming is torrents and pirating

[caladbolg777]

No sir. You are the "retarded" one if you believe that piracy smear campaign bullsh!t.

[toaster]

You're right about one thing.
PC games are getting pirated more often nowadays. But if you go to some third world country you'll see just as many pirated xbox 360 and ps3 games. YES it is possible and I have no idea how they do it.

The PC community isn't all just pirating and torrenting. Look at Valve's Steam service. 100% of those games were purchased for and approved. If you play any online game on Steam you'll see that there are many players on the dedicated servers and you need to have a genuine copy to play online.

[pegger24]

I really don't know and am asking. I don't do PC gaming at all. It seems like most pc gamers want them, but I am just wondering why? excuse my ignorance.
My guess is, if the dedicated server thing effects sales they will figure out a way to patch it. If it doesn't than people who were complaining might have been the vocal minority. I don't know. just speculation

[CrippleH]

Dedicated servers and Mods are the heart of PC gaming.

[pegger24]

thanks

[DiffusionE]

They've been screwing us over from the beginning, announcement after announcement, and now you're gonna forgive them because they made one little statement? Seriously, have they done anything recently to back their statement up? NO. They're trying to act innocent because of the backlash.

Hey Infinity Ward, if you really care about us, then stop talking about it and SHOW IT.

[dragon82]

What have they done to screw over console gamers???? You act like PC gamers are the only ones who buy IW games. Get over yourselves!!! I have the right to like them and want to buy their game for my PS3. Just like you have the right cry about the PC version.

[DiffusionE]

Idiot...you just contradicted yourself. You accepted that we have the right to be angry at IW, and yet you're saying 'get over youselves'? You yourself are the one acting like only your opinion matters. And did I ever mention consoles getting screwed specifically? No, in fact, I didn't say anything about PC either. So, get off your high horse and go back to your Uncrysis 2, 'tard.

[MegaPowa]

You guys are babies :/ your not going to buy this game just because of its price and the company publishing it? annoying babies.

[awi5951]

You get online and say haha games are for free im not paying for it and torrent everything and you expect developers to give you more freedom.Thats just silly talk. Developers arent stupid when they sell 20 thousands games and 100K downloads the new patches for their game you know you just had the crap robbed out of you thats why there clamping down on you enuff said. Sorry the Aholes stealing games have ruined it for everyone. When they try to put in DRM you complain as well so this is what you get.Bitc^*(% about everything comes back and bites you in the ass sometimes so bend over.

[Barcefut-09]

YES, I AGREE

[3rik]

It is true. A lot of pc gamers do just torrent the game. I'm not saying all, but a good deal are. I don't do much pc gaming (don't have the money for a good enough machine) but quite a few of my friends play pc games they didn't pay for. Now, when a large majority are enjoying your product without giving you support for it (money) I would think about their wants a bit less. It is a bit greedy, but it is business. And, just because they don't listen to their pc fans as much, that doesn't mean they don't care about their fans. I don't know the exact numbers, but I believe more people play their games on consoles.

[Pwee]

MW2 overhyped anyway!

[04soldier]

Thats the only reason I quit playing cod4. I didnt feel the immersion... IW youre just talking out the side of your neck....

[InLaLaLand]

IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW YOU SPELL JABRONI xD, thats the best way to describe IW and Activision.

[ForROME]

I dont think I will buy this game still, I want split scree off line co op on teh actual campaign not side story. but the point is with activision behind anything Im going to stop buying their games altogether hate to say, you want to send a message start with thier pocket book

[Captain Tuttle]

What a load of BS.

[Barcefut-09]

you guys are annoying anD messed up, infinity ward is my favorite developer, they are awesome. STOP CRYING OVER NO DEDICATED SERVERS ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!

[CrippleH]

That explains your lapdog ignorance.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Dedicated servers = more piracy.

YOU don't understand.

[IWentBrokeForGaming]

I will only play this game if I recieve it free. People hail this heap of a game but bash Halo, I even really hate Halo... but find it to be more enjoyable than COD4 (soon 6). Both are overrated franchises, only Halo brought new things to the genre ESPECIALLY for consoles!

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Wait...so, implementing a leveling system in an FPS wasn't new with COD4?

Perks weren't new with COD4?

[ZBlacktt]

"Because we want to stay focused, really the only opinion we care about is what our fans think."

Oh really? Dropping the servers from PC users, raising the price on fans and having a jackass like Bob K speak on your behalf.

[wutangkillabees]

yeah no rumble. that was the biggest let down. i know it rumble came out after but come on. also all games should let in game music like killzone 2

[kbexp]

NOW!

[Queers of War]

Whatever for? I'm pretty sure Activision would've had $ eyes and made "cha-ching!" sounds just from the sound of that idea.

[Dellis]

IW will pull a BUNGIE soon!

Activision will be able to handle the backlash they will get

from this

[CobraKai]

If you were working for a company that wants titles that exist merely for yearly exploitation and not innovation, wouldn't you not tell them?

[Sigh]

then tell Activision to:
1)Lower the extra price Activision intended
2)Bring back dedicated servers for PC gamers
3)Tell Bobby Kotick he's a douche
If you would do it "for the fans"

Utter BS.

[j0ltspidah88]

"I agree with you. If anything you should blame Sony for mismanagement. I mean they could have implemented this feature way in advance, communicate with developers more and give them the tools."

Unfortunately, Sony has nothing to do with IW's inablility to patch in trophies. In fact, Sony gave them the tools, the apis, the documentation so they can add in a few lines of code to get trophies patch in. Unfortunately, IW chose to sit out and do nothing. Sony even encouraged them. But in the end, it's their choice, and they chose to not patch in trophies. That can not be forgiven.

There is no way fans can support them and their game when they don't even support their own game.

A few lines of code? Try a few thousand lines, what you're asking for is something that is purely cosmetic, they patched things that could be game breaking. To say they don't support their game is pretty asinine. If you're so damn worried about trophies, go get an xbox and you can get all the achievements you want.

P.S - i don't even like IW, yet I still think you're a complete asshat for your ridiculous uninformed comments.

[Jamaicangmr]

Nice try though.

[suntzu420]

@Toaster

"PC games are getting pirated more often nowadays. But if you go to some third world country you'll see just as many pirated xbox 360 and ps3 games. YES it is possible and I have no idea how they do it."

PS3 games can be ripped from bluray and burned back to bluray, but they will not play.

[mattygamefreak]

If Infinity Ward made MW2 for the fans it would have longer then a 6 hour campaign, first person only view mode and they wouldn't have abandoned the most hardcore Call of Duty fans from which the series originated, the PC.

Nice try Infinity Ward and Activision but my money will end with other games. I still have to find the cash for Demon's Souls, Ratchet & Clank A Crack In Time, Borderlands and Assassin's Creed 2. Then straight into next year with Bioshock 2, followed by Battlefield Bad Company 2, God of War 3, Gran Turismo 5 and Heavy Rain I'll be right thanks.

[Neurotoxin]

"So that's why very early on, we got in touch with our fans via Twitter and Facebook and said 'what's the one thing you wanted to see in the game?'"

And then completely ignored them....

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Dedicated servers - You pirate it, they'll stop you.

Infinity Ward is an amazing developer. They really are. They've supported every game they've ever made and changed things so that you, the gamers, could be happy.

Maybe they didn't fix EVERY SINGLE LITTLE THING, but they try...and a lot harder than you think.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

You guys know the SRP was never changed by Infinity Ward...right?

Retailers decided to up the price because they could.

You're all banding against a developer because you want to be part of a "revolution" against something. It happened with the PS3. It happened with 1940's Germany. Now, it's happening with Infinity Ward.

Get over yourselves, people!

[Stoney22]

Dude you need to get it out of your head that Infinity Ward are good developers because they're not. They mock Treyarch for not coming up with fresh idea but then fail to come up with any themselves.
They fail to listen to their community. A point shown with their recent decision to not have dedicated servers on Modern Warfare 2.
I feel sorry for you really if you think this is good game support.

"and really like COD4 got a lot of support from IW, COD2 had around 4 or 6 map packs before COD3 came out"

"4 or 6" overpriced maps is not "a lot of support". If you want to see support, and a developer listen to their community look at Valve and what they do with games like Team Fortress 2. This game is a few years old and it STILL receives FREE updates with new content and maps, and STILL gets FREE patch fixes.
Infinity Ward supporting their game would be releasing cheap or free map and content along with trophy support for the PS3 version of the game and so on.
This all really falls back on your contradictory comment

"soo why go back and polish and old game"

Perhaps to please a community that has stuck by the game? Perhaps to show you care about your games and the community that plays them? Just two reasons i though of in just as many seconds.
The fact is Infinity ward are bad developers and everything that is wrong with the gaming industry. Their choice to increase Modern Warfare's price, removing dedicated servers and lack of game support shows this.
You could argue that it was Activisions choice to do this. That's not a better argument though. If it was Activisions choice then why weren't Infinity Ward up in arms about this? Why weren't they voicing their discontent and displeasure at this?
The sad reason is that they support what's going on and that is just one of many things that makes them a bad developer.

Sorry about the wall of text had to put this guy in his place : )

[toaster]

At what you said about TF2, everything IS free. I have not payed a single cent towards that game since it was released. And not only Valve created content and patches that are FREE, it also supports community made maps, mods, and gametypes.
quick examples: counter strike, quake, tf classic, blizzard's starcraft and warcraft franchises. just some off the tip of my head.