New Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Report Has COD Fans Worried

By Tyler Fischer

This year's Call of Duty looks poised to be one of the biggest COD releases in years and that's not only because of Modern Warfare branding, but because it's a reboot of MW2, one of the most popular games of all time. In the face of this hype, a new report has some fairly good news about the game, yet it has COD fans worried because this good news is balanced with some bad news about the future of the series. The report comes the way of a reliable source who claims that Infinity Ward has cultivated a "planning-to-crunch-policy" during the development of the game. Typically, crunch leads to a better game but it burns out the team in the process. And this new report claims that's exactly what is happening.

The report comes the way of Ralph Valve, who claims that "Call of Duty's high attrition rate has cost the company over the past year." To this end, it's claimed that many leads at the studios, senior developers, and even directors at Infinity Ward have been resigning due to the "working conditions and pay discrepancies" at the studio, with even more slated to leave once the game is released. To fill these holes, Infinity Ward has reportedly had to bring in a high influx of employees with no prior experience in the industry, which could prove costly down the road.

"I love the team at Infinity Ward, but I do hate how they manage people," said one developer while speaking to Ralph Valve. "They like to use and abuse people. Lots of talented individuals, a part of the team, and several departments, will be breaking up after this game has shipped. So, keep that in mind – it should be a big year for Infinity Ward but after this next title I don't see [Call of Duty] doing well in general."

In short, it sounds like while the development of this year's game is about to pay off big for Infinity Ward and Activision, the short-term gains are going to come alongside long-term pain. And if you pay attention to developer circles, you'll know the other two Call of Duty studios -- Sledgehammer Games and Treyarch (especially the former) -- have also been having high turnover as of late.

All of that said, remember this is just a report. While it comes from a reliable source, it doesn't change the fact that it's not official information. As for the implicated parties, none have commented. 

H/T, What If Gaming.

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