Infinity Ward, the original developer of the Call of Duty franchise, is getting bigger. A job ad for an Expert UI Engineer reveals that the company owned by Activision has recently opened a new studio based in Austin, Texas. According to the ad, the new Infinity Ward office will focus on ‘creating new and innovative experiences for Call of Duty and create state of the art technology to power them’.
It’s certainly exciting news for fans of the first-person shooter behemoth, especially after Sledgehammer’s Modern Warfare III completely failed to entice the fanbase. In our review, Kai Powell scored the game just 6.6, one of the lowest ratings we’ve given to a Call of Duty title.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare III builds off of last year’s strengths and weaknesses without having enough identity to stand up on its own. So much of this year’s content is recycled in ways the series hadn’t seen before. If you skipped Modern Warfare II and care not for the campaign, the breadth of multiplayer modes can keep players engaged for the next twelve months. It’s tough for Infinity Ward to shake off the comments that this year’s Call of Duty is merely a $60 expansion pack. Even for a fan of the series that has hit prestige year after year, the content this time around is a tough sell. The multiplayer modes and ability to “Carry Forward” unlocks into Modern Warfare III gives players both a fresh start while not forcing them to start from scratch as in previous years. Modern Warfare III might not be one of Call of Duty’s strongest entries, but the multiplayer offerings still remain the biggest draw going forward.
Modern Warfare III has received similar ratings from other outlets and user reviews on Steam and Metacritic. Even so, the latest Call of Duty installment topped the UK chart, although it sold less than last year’s Modern Warfare II by Infinity Ward.
Next year’s Call of Duty entry should be made by Treyarch, so Infinity Ward’s upcoming project won’t launch until 2025. Whether the newly established Austin studio ends up helping with that game’s production remains to be seen.
