Activision Allegedly Pushing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare To Be More Controversial For Headlines

Michael Condrey, the former head of Sledgehammer Games (one of the developers that works on the Call of Duty series), seemed to recently suggest that Activision is pushing Infinity Ward to make Call of Duty: Modern Warfare more controversial and darker in order to get headlines, because as you will know, controversy sells.

"I maintain that video games are the most important art form of our time. I respect every developer who strives to deliver their work as an extension or reflection of their artistic vision. That said, MW seems like a tough challenge for any studio, especially if they are being pushed by publishing to be more controversial and 'darker' for the sake of headlines," said Condrey while speaking to VentureBeat, who asked the former Call of Duty developer about reports that the game is disturbing.

Now, as you may know, this doesn't really line up with what Infinity Ward has said about the game in the past. The studio has more than once noted the game is 100 percent its creative vision. That said, you wouldn't expect it to throw Activision under the bus, so it would probably never admit that such pressure is coming from the publisher.

It's also worth pointing out that it's a bit unclear what Condrey is getting at it. I mean, it's obvious what he's suggesting, but what's not obvious is whether or not this is an assumption or based off something he actually knows about the game's development.

Whatever the case, the controversy and "pulling no punches" type of headlines has been great marketing for the game. I keep a close eye on the Call of Duty community every year, and I haven't seen it this excited for a new installment in quite some time, though it's not very smitten by news of bullet drop.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare will be available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC when it launches later this year on October 25. For more news, media, and information on the upcoming shooter, be sure to peep all of our previous and extensive coverage of the title by clicking right here.