Modern Warfare 2 Navigates A Sea Of Second-Guessers digg_skin = 'compact';digg_bgcolor = '#FFFFF9';digg_url = 'http://kotaku.com/5397906/modern-warfare-2-navigates-a-sea-of-second+guessers';
Incensed politicians, angry fans, boycotting retailers: What might be the biggest video game launch in history has more than its share of controversy.
But in the eye of the contentious hurricane that swirls around the upcoming launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, developer Infinity Ward appears unfazed.
"It's very exciting," said Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling, who's
title changed from community manager to "creative strategist" as the
buzz began to swell for Modern Warfare 2. "I'm fully expecting it to do
very well. I'm expecting good things."
And he should be. Set in modern times, the first-person shooter has already broken the record for most pre-orders, according to national retailer GameStop.
And industry analyst Anita Frazier says there's a very good chance
it will break Halo 3's record for 3.3 million copies sold at launch.
"The previous best-selling Call of Duty games (across all platforms)
in its launch month is a tie between (Modern Warfare) and COD World at
War with 2.3 million units including those generated by PC sales at
retail," said Frazier, who tracks sales numbers for the NPD Group. "For
the title to exceed Halo 3 first month sales, COD: MW2 would have to
best its previous best launches by 43%.
"That's a big number to increase, but is it possible? Yes, with what
is being reported about pre-sells and the general level of buzz that
this game is generating, it's possible. There are also a number of
high-interest special edition SKU's launching for this game as well."
But all of that buzz, and those millions of pre-orders, means a lot
of people are paying very close attention to what developer Infinity
Ward is doing this time around with the game.
Fans have been carefully tracking every bit of information dropped about the game, from the night vision goggles
that will be included with some special editions of the title, to plot
twists and the way the game will be handled on different platforms.
"We have come to a realization with this game that anything that can
leak will leak," Bowling said. "When our night vision glasses went into
production, the guys making them figured out what they were for and put
them on and took pictures of them."
The leaks have reached such a fevered pitch that Bowling recently
advised gamers to avoid the internet altogether if they wanted to have
a pristine experience playing through the game.
Soon after, word and video hit of a level in the game that seems to involve player-controlled terrorism. Despite the game being weeks from release, Australian politicians were up in arms
about the notion and eventually publisher Activision released a
statement defending the game and saying players will have the option to
skip it.
But that short lived controversy was nothing compared to the ire
raised by the developer's approach to the PC version of the game. When
news hit that PC gamers would have less control over the way they play online it ignited a firestorm of seething disappointment, online petitions and, in at least one case, a cash donation to a competing video game.
Bowling and the company defend the decisions made to make the PC game more accessible.
"We have protected what our veteran gamers love about the game, but
are also catering to different play styles and rewarding those
different play styles," Bowling said. "Accessibility was a major focus
for Modern Warfare 2."
And Bowling denies that Infinity Ward and Activision are more
focused on making the console versions of the game than a solid PC
version.
"We make a fantastic PC game," he said. "Modern Warfare 2 is our most feature-rich PC game yet."
When asked if the next Modern Warfare would be on the PC, Bowling said he doesn't even know yet what Infinity Ward's next game will be.
Bowling believes that the outcry against Infinity Ward's design decisions by some PC gamers is a case of a loud minority, and not the sentiments of the majority.
"We have 14 million players on Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare," he
said. "The hardcore gamers make up a smaller core of that, and PC
gamers are the smallest group of that core.
"It is a very vocal community and they are all online."
The outcry is perhaps also the offshoot of a game developer being so engaged with their community.
"Our community gets so invested in our games," Bowling said.
"Therefore they feel, and rightfully so, that we should justify every
design decision to them. I think that it's very important to understand
that you should be very involved in your community and work with them,
but not to be held prisoner to their demands.
"We know our game very well. Some of the stuff you have to put in
there and have faith in your design. Some things don't sound good out
of context. You don't see the beauty of them until you experience them
for yourselves."
"It's a very fine line."