Benzinga - by Franca Quarneti, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Activision Blizzard Inc's (NASDAQ: ATVI) recent release, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, had a tumultuous development process.
The game was rushed to meet Activision's annual sales targets, Bloomberg reports. Developers were pushed to their limits, often working overtime, including nights and weekends.
Gamers and critics were already complaining about the latest entry in the Call of Duty franchise, due to the seemingly incomplete single-player campaign.
"Call of Duty: Vanguard," the previous game, was reportedly made under a similarly constrained development cycle.
Staff members at Sledgehammer once again had to work nights and weekends in order to finish "Modern Warfare III." According to Bloomberg, they "felt betrayed" by the company because they were promised they wouldn’t have to go through another shortened timeline.
Originally, the game was presented as an expansion to Modern Warfare II, focusing on missions set in Mexico.
In the summer of 2022, Activision executives abruptly redirected the project to become a full-fledged sequel centered on the Modern Warfare II antagonist, Vladimir Makarov.
This decision was prompted by the need to fill a gap left by a delay in Treyarch's next Call of Duty title. The move was seen as a way to maintain the franchise's annual release schedule.
Activision denied the allegations, with Sledgehammer Games studio head Aaron Halon describing the sequel as a "new type of direct sequel."
However, over a dozen current and former Call of Duty developers contradicted this statement, asserting that the initial plan was for an expansion.
The Call of Duty series has consistently generated massive profits for Activision but has faced criticism for the toll it takes on its developers.
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