Producer explains why studio "can't change too many" of the series' rules

Many of the most ardent Call of Duty players sit in what Infinity Ward terms the "casual game space".

These consumers play Call of Duty a lot, and sometimes it's all they play, Infinity Ward executive producer Mark Rubin told OXM.

Explaining why he doesn't expect the arrival of new console hardware to have much of an impact on Call of Duty's audience, Rubin said: "We have an enormous amount of players who are more in the casual game space, but they play a lot.

"It's kind of a weird, ironic thing to say. They aren't hardcore gamers, or even gamers, but they play Call of Duty every night. And those guys are going to continue to play regardless of platform. So I think not only will we continue to engage with that existing player base, but we'll take next gen and see how far we can go with it."

Likening Call of Duty to a sport, Rubin also told OXM that Infinity Ward "can't change too many of the core rules" if it wants to keep hold of the series' existing audience, from the casual players mentioned above through to pro gamers.

"There is the obvious truth that if this were football, and next year they decided we only want seven players a side and you can use your hands, I don't think people would want to go to many of those games.

"We can play a lot with the outside of how that works, and it's things like character customisation, making the movement through that world better, making the world itself more interesting, adding the new modes, adding the new dynamic maps.

"So there's still I think a lot to do," Rubin added. "Any time we ship a game - and this a non-Call of Duty statement, this is [applicable to] any dev you've ever talked to - is there's always a ton of features they wish they could have gotten to, before they shipped. So I think we'll always be able to bring new and interesting stuff. It's literally that we're just trying to make a better game than we made last time."

Publisher Activision has confirmed a Call of Duty: Ghosts release date of November 5 on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U and PC. The game will also be a launch title on Xbox One and PS4 later in the month.

Posted: Oct 21, 2013 12:31 pm
Related Forum: Call of Duty Forum

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/434690/infinity-ward-says-many-call-of-duty-players-arent-core-gamers/