Activision Blizzard Is Back In the Game
World of Warcraft Classic and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare brighten the game maker's upside potential
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Back in 2003, the first Call of Duty was a blockbuster success with its cinematic campaign and more realistic game-play. Previously, the game’s developers made the popular Medal of Honor games for EA before eventually joining Activision under the Infinity Ward studio banner.
The games they made were simply better than anything on the market at the time.
Infinity Ward’s apex was 2007’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, in my opinion the most influential modern shooter in gaming history.
But due to differences with Activision management over compensation and creative direction, most of the core Infinity Ward team resigned and left to form Respawn. (Respawn then made the Titanfall games and was eventually acquired by EA and now makes Apex Legends. Yes, it is all a bit confusing.) As a result, Infinity Ward was gutted and lost most of its talent.
Over the last decade, the annual Call of Duty releases haven’t advanced much technically. Yes, there were different environments and stories, but the core gameplay and graphics always seemed a bit dated, rehashed, frankly more and more cartoony.
So I wasn’t expecting much last weekend, when I booted up the pre-release alpha demo of the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (slated for an October release.)
Wow. Was I pleasantly stunned. I enjoyed it immensely. This year’s game is gritty and has a improved, more deliberate gameplay design - including more realistic physics. It was a dramatic step-function technology upgrade, versus previous Call of Duty titles.
But I was also perplexed. The previous two Infinity Ward games were mediocre and sales disappointments. The studio was widely regarded as second-tier among Activision’s Call of Duty development studios.
How could they put out such a technically improved game with a revamped graphics engine? What happened?
Over the last year, I had heard rumors that a number of senior developers who worked on the original 2007 Modern Warfare game and left to join Respawn, had returned to re-join Activision’s Infinity Ward in recent years.
So I contacted Activision and asked was this true? Was this why this year’s game was so improved?
Yes and yes.
Activision sent me the names of several senior developers and their bios - including the Studio Art Director, Multiplayer Design Director, Game Designer and Animation Director. I checked and confirmed the information on their LinkedIn profiles. It all made sense.
Now, I’m more excited about this game than any Call of Duty release since Modern Warfare 2 a decade ago. And that is probably good news for the Activision Blizzard shares.
Oh. The company’s other big 2019 release, World of Warcraft Classic, which is a re-issue of a 15 year-old game, melted down the internet this week with record-breaking viewership on Twitch. 6.1 million unique viewers in 24 hours. Like Coca-Cola Classic, nostalgia can be extremely profitable.
Read all about it in my full Tech Trader column HERE.
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Comments? What should I be covering? Let me know by replying to this email.
Tae Kim
Tech Reporter, Barron’s
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If you like this free tech investing email newsletter, subscribe HERE.
I write about technology, the stock market and video games. You can also check out my bio and archive of stories on taekim.com. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram.