Activision’s Rushed Development of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Leaves Critics and Developers Disappointed
The release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s single-player campaign on November 2 was met with scathing reviews from critics, who panned the game as short, rushed, and incomplete. Now, Bloomberg has shed light on the rushed development process that may have contributed to the game’s shortcomings.
According to Bloomberg, the game was rushed out in half the time of a normal Call of Duty sequel, with developers working nights and weekends to meet Activision’s annualized sales goals. The game was initially pitched to Sledgehammer developers as an expansion to Modern Warfare II, focusing on missions in Mexico. However, in the summer of 2022, Activision executives reportedly rebooted the project as a full-fledged sequel focusing on the villain Vladimir Makarov, in order to fill the gap left by a delay in Treyarch’s next Call of Duty game.
A spokesperson for Activision denied these claims, stating that Modern Warfare III was a “new type of direct sequel,” despite evidence suggesting otherwise. More than a dozen current and former Call of Duty developers have expressed feeling betrayed by the company, having been promised a longer development cycle after working on the previous game, Call of Duty: Vanguard, under similar constraints.
Activision’s aggressive annual release schedule for the Call of Duty franchise has raised concerns about burnout among developers. With Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard, there are questions about whether the franchise will continue these unsustainable development cycles, or if it will take a much-needed break for the first time in decades.
The rushed development of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III has highlighted the toll that such strict timelines can take on both the quality of the game and the well-being of its developers.