Why do game companys do this?

[nboy22]

Call of duty 5 is a prime example. Why do companies hire out studios that make an amazing game like call of duty 4, only to make a ton of money (I'm sure) and then switch the studio to something crappy like Treyarch. It seems like Treyarch just took what was already done and screwed it up.

I may be missing something, so correct me if I'm wrong, but does this make sense whatsoever? Why not just stay with the studio that made the best game? I might be getting Publisher -> Developer -> Studio all mixed up, but maybe someone can explain.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Because it allows them to come out with yearly installments in a popular series. Games take a while to develop. As long as they can get a few people to buy their crap versions done by outside studios, it keeps them happy.

 

[oznerol]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Because it allows them to come out with yearly installments in a popular series. Games take a while to develop. As long as they can get a few people to buy their crap versions done by outside studios, it keeps them happy.

Dead on.

If a game has a 2-year development cycle but the publisher wants it to be a yearly series, they run two development teams in parallel so they overlap each other.

Sometimes it's two different teams from the same developer - like many sports games. In the Call of Duty case, it's two different developers entirely.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Always about money.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Franchise milking. The only thing that slows it down is used game sales and piracy. If it carries the CoD name, it will sell.

Especially if you shut down the multiplayer of the previous edition (AFAIK, will not happen here):evil:

 

[nboy22]

So I guess I can rely on a prediction that Call of Duty 6 or 7 will be the good one I actually want to get.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: nboy22
So I guess I can rely on a prediction that Call of Duty 6 or 7 will be the good one I actually want to get.

Call of Duty 5 will be the good one you want to get. It looks like Activision relegated Treyarch to subtitled games, not numbered games. The next Infinity Ward CoD will probably be CoD 5.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: nboy22
So I guess I can rely on a prediction that Call of Duty 6 or 7 will be the good one I actually want to get.

Call of Duty 5 will be the good one you want to get. It looks like Activision relegated Treyarch to subtitled games, not numbered games. The next Infinity Ward CoD will probably be CoD 5.

Reminds me of the great Mitch Hedberg bit:

"I?m staying at a hotel right now, there?s no 13th floor because of superstition. But come on man, the people on the 14th floor, you know what floor you?re really on. If you jump out of the 14th floor hoping to kill yourself, you will die earlier!"

 

[gorcorps]

$

 

[mugs]

BTW, most gamers who don't post on forums (people who aren't as "into" games as we are) probably don't know the difference between Infinity Ward and Treyarch. Who pays attention to the splash screens before a game starts?