Activision’s very own Infinity Ward has shared its secrets with the world, explaining why Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was such a massive success. The magic formula is a mixture of in-house game engineering and an indie development approach.
Here is what Matt Rubin had to say on CoD4‘s technology:
“We develop everything in house as we think it’s not a good development/production idea to buy a new engine because you feel that one has more bells and whistles.
Our theory is to reiterate what we already do well and add the stuff that we want. We wrote our own physics engine, we didn’t use anyone else’s, and we do everything in house, so we’re never thinking now we’re gonna change over to this engine or that engine. It’s our own code so only we can make it work the way we want it to work, otherwise you get what somebody else thought you might want, and not what you really want.”
Rubin also explained that Activision allows his team to develop games with an independent mindset, to take time and craft a complete gaming experience rather than rush something out of the door. He used this, however, to explain why Treyarch will be making the next one (boo):
“We make games independently. If it takes two years we will make a game in two years, if it takes three we’ll make it in three. We’ve been doing this long enough now that we’re in a really good rhythm for doing a game in two years, but as far as the specifics of one studio doing it one year and the other another year, it doesn’t really affect us.”
I have no idea how to make a videogame, but I know Infinity Ward pulled out a blinder with Modern Warfare, so I’m inclined to go with whatever those guys say. It’s just sad they won’t be doing the next one.
