Robert bowling leaving IW

[Synde]

So, its not everyday when a guy steps out of a sweet deal just because he sees it is corrupt.

link

Do you think COD is done after black ops 2? Or will the games after that just be so horrid no one will buy them? The franchise is definitely dying, if not already dead.

[Makeshift]

At 3/27/12 08:11 PM, Synde wrote: if not already dead.

I have about 4 and a half days played of MW3 and I'm still only ranked 1,700,000 in the world for score... just on the 360. I don't think it's quite dead yet and Robert Bowling being gone doesn't really change anything.

[Synde]

At 3/27/12 08:15 PM, Makeshift wrote:

At 3/27/12 08:11 PM, Synde wrote: if not already dead.

I have about 4 and a half days played of MW3 and I'm still only ranked 1,700,000 in the world for score... just on the 360. I don't think it's quite dead yet and Robert Bowling being gone doesn't really change anything.

Dead in spirit I mean. Unless treyarch can pull something amagical out of their ass this year. I really like COD, but I can't bring myself to play MW3.

[naronic]

The word I've heard gargled around is that mw3 is indeed the last of the bunch.

As for the quality in my opinion, the cod games are already too pathetically put together to warrant a 30+ USD purchase. Any further stagnation of this franchise will cause radioactivity.

[Jercurpac]

At 3/27/12 08:11 PM, Synde wrote: So, its not everyday when a guy steps out of a sweet deal just because he sees it is corrupt.

That's a little presumptuous. It's easy to say, "Oh it's Activision, they had to have done some bullshit to drive him away," but nothing from either side has indicated that this is anything, but an amicable departure. He stuck around through the debacle with the firings and the lawsuits and countersuits so when everything's settled down and the series has proven that it's still on top he's suddenly had enough of Activision? I think it's easier to believe that he just wants to try something new, work on a different franchise. He's one of the few people in the industry who brings name recognition to wherever he goes so it's not like he's leaving a cushy job with no prospects.

[Synde]

At 3/27/12 10:00 PM, Jercurpac wrote:

He's made tweets about his distaste for throwback maps, and since that's only one of the many shitty things IW and activision pull, I don't think it was the only reason. If you dislike that part of the franchise, you don't just think everything else is just fine.

[orangebomb]

At 3/27/12 08:11 PM, Synde wrote: Do you think COD is done after black ops 2? Or will the games after that just be so horrid no one will buy them? The franchise is definitely dying, if not already dead.

I wouldn't say that the COD franchise is dying, as much as it is stagnating off of its success. After the fiasco with West and Zampella after the release of MW2, there seems to be a decline in quality with Black Ops and MW3, {though both games were pretty good IMO.} particularly when Treyarch took much of the control along with a re-tooled IW crew. Considering that Bowling stuck around after the metaphorical fallout of the firing of West and Zampella and all of the Activision hate that sprang up soon after that, I would probably imagine that he decided to leave on his own terms and with no blowback or controversy on Activision's part.

As for the franchise, it will be mostly under Treyarch's control along with IW and Sledgehammer Games providing some assistance in the future. But considering the history of Treyarch as a game developer, COD is most likely going to have an up-and-down future at best.

[Jercurpac]

At 3/27/12 10:51 PM, Synde wrote:

At 3/27/12 10:00 PM, Jercurpac wrote:

He's made tweets about his distaste for throwback maps, and since that's only one of the many shitty things IW and activision pull, I don't think it was the only reason. If you dislike that part of the franchise, you don't just think everything else is just fine.

That's par for the course with any major publisher, because he disagrees with some of their practices doesn't mean he stormed out of the building in disgust. The way you put it sounds like he has some major feud with Activision which I doubt is true. He spent some time in the big leagues and I'm sure as with any job there were plenty of perks and plenty points of contention. We joke that Call of Duty is the same game over and over, but in many ways that's what the fans want. Now it sounds like he'd like to work on a smaller franchise where he can have a more significant impact on a game's direction, no controversy just a change in direction.