Could be wrong but I feel like it started happening around the time Warzone first came out, it was probably happening before then to an extent but after Warzone it felt like more and more studios were getting pushed into mostly CoD duty
It happened because just like every other studio, games got more demanding and a CoD shipping every year with all the modes and content people expect alongside high fidelity/performance etc means needing an insane amount of workforce to be able to release at that schedule
I remember back in the 360 era we had IW making a CoD and then Treyarch the next year and then went on for a while. Maybe if they keep two big studios for CoD for every year? But perhaps it really is needed, all the studios.
If they didn’t need these studios they wouldn’t be using them
Th amount of devs required to make games and the time they take have skyrocketed the last decade, the games you’re talking about were 2 gens ago, a completely different world, Skyrim for example was made by roughly 100 people at least in the main studio while Starfield was over 4x that and even it feels wildly understaffed for the scale of the game they made
The only way to have fewer devs working on these games is to either get less features which gamers wont accept or not release every year which shareholders aren’t going to want
I believe they said the COD plans through 2027 were set in motion, which makes sense given a 3-4 year development time per game. I think we’re still a ways away from a meaningful change in priorities unless they disrupt a number of existing projects.
I believe COD stays yearly through the rest of the generation but once 2028 hits and it’s next gen, I believe that it will be next gen only and be a platform which also means that it won’t matter that it’s next gen only because you can jump in at any time.
Seems to me based on Kotick’s statements they intend to hire more people at the main COD studios and support studios (for COD) so the support studios (Beenox, Toys for Bob etc.) have devs for other projects as well.
Personally, Id love to see ABK push more innovation with COD now. I say, stop pumping out Zombies every game. Instead focus on offering an innovative new mode. Id like to see it be the equivalent of what rpgs do with introducing new mini games when they make a new entry. Just work on creating something new every time that gets people talking.
Many indies and publishers have been doing that due to people exploiting those regions. It ducks for the locals , but it’s a common thing to correct pricing in those regions
I would be suprised if much changes unfortunately. It’s easier to sell a yearly new game then a new paid update. A new yearly game has a much bigger influence on gamepass then a once off game that you keep updating.
I just checked and in my country it’s cheaper to just to get gamepass then the cost of the new MWIII. Add to that the cost of paying for online on console and the price difference is absolutely massive
So Forza Motorsport hit #6 most played on Xbox in Australia, moved up from 7# just 3 days ago. There is more people playing Forza Motorsport than GTAV, FC24, Apex Legends and Minecraft. If you go off by what you hear online and Twitter you would think this game is barely in the top 50 and no one plays it.
Just looked at a few places in Europe and it’s sitting at 4#
Where is it in the U.K. out of interest? I don’t even know how to check.
I guess a genre that isn’t popular in North America probably does get a bit ignored generally…I mean it’s not like the major podcasts or outlets will discuss a game like FM after the initial week because it’s a genre for particular enthusiasts. Horizon broke through because clearly it made the racing genre massively accessible and fun to a wide audience.
FM though I think does an outstanding job of helping people understand track racing and for me is quite accessible. It’s just that many wont get that far to try it.
en here stands for English, but it can be another language, eg. pt - Portuguese, pl - Polish etc. gb stands for Great Britain, but again it can be another country, full list here:
How much does Game Pass cost in your country for a year? I can’t imagine it costing less than MW3 which is $70. Also, how much does Game Pass Ultimate cost in your country for a year? Buying the game would be cheaper until you add in the monthly fee to play online which is why I think it gets added to Game Pass starting next year day one and for next gen, will be a platform because in 5 years from now, im expecting Game Pass to be around or above 100m subscribers so Microsoft would prefer this way instead of selling you a game every year.
Also, since they have a 10 year deal with Sony, Nintendo, etc., unless it states that they need to release a native version yearly which I highly doubt, it would easier development wise to just do one massive game in 2028 and then add to it every quarter/season with additional content and a massive expansion every year.