Infinity Ward: it's "better for the industry" if MW3 and BF3 succeed

By Johnny Minkley Published 8 November, 2011

Studio is "friends" with DICE, producer blasts EA "silly talk".

The cold, wet London weather couldn't dampen the spirits of Infinity Ward last night as it celebrated the launch of Modern Warfare 3 at the stroke of midnight.

The game releases after months of verbal warfare between publishing executives at EA and Activision, as the former threw its weight behind Battlefield 3 in an attempt to see Call of Duty, in the words of CEO John Riccitiello, "rot from the core".

But speaking to Eurogamer TV on the green carpet, Infinity Ward exec producer Mark Rubin hit out at the "silly publisher talk", insisting: "When both games succeed it's better for the industry as a whole. It's not just us - we want the gaming industry to succeed because the better the gaming industry does the better we all do. We root for everybody."

He added: "Honestly, it's the fans you want to listen to. They're gamers, they're going to play both games, both games are great. Much respect for everyone involved on the DICE side and I think they feel the same way with us. We're friends with them. It's not what they portray on the EA side."

Rubin also touched on the turmoil that rocked the early days of the project, which saw Jason West and Vince Zampella were fired by Activision over alleged breach of contract, prompting a mass exodus of over 40 IW staff.

"That's what makes this whole event so much sweeter," he said. "We really did struggle through a very difficult time, we powered through it, we got a lot of great help from the Sledgehammer guys to be here not only with a finished game, but a game we feel is the best we've made yet."

Rubin also defended Modern Warfare 3 against the latest controversy to be sparked by the series, following the leak of footage depicting a young girl and her mother being killed in an explosion.

"It's out of context so it's hard to say," he said. "When you play the game you'll realise why it's there and where it sits. When we design our single-player we've always gone for movies as our inspiration and not necessarily other games and so everything we do is geared around storytelling, and that sort of cinematic experience and the 'No Russian' level and anything you've seen in the leaks is the same thing."

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About Johnny Minkley

Johnny Minkley is a veteran games writer and broadcaster, former editor of Eurogamer TV, VP of gaming charity SpecialEffect, and hopeless social media addict.

Read more articles from Johnny by visiting the Johnny Minkley archive page.

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Comments (31) Latest comment 7 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • captain_Carl #1 7 months ago

    Better for the industry if neither succeed. Then we can go back to before every game was a grey shooter with big men yelling at eachother

  • Stratix #2 7 months ago

    I'm going to play both, and I am going to enjoy both. I might slightly prefer one over the other, but I wont go all fanboy about it.

  • Freek #3 7 months ago

    You mean back to every other game that isn't a military shooter? Those games are still being made.
    CoD and/or BF3 existing and getting a big marketing push each autumn doesn't change that.
    Those games are not the entire gaming industrie, and neither is the shooter genre.

  • anthonypappa #4 7 months ago

    games trying to emulate COD's massive success is BAD for the industry.

    innovation will quickly go the way of the dodo.

    just compare the original bad company's campaign to battlefield 3's. one was quirky and enjoyable, the other was an epic travesty.

    now the strategic game, rainbow six is about to go all "cinematic" on us. great!

    bizarre creations got vapourised for trying something different.
    Edited by anthonypappa at 08/11/11 @ 13:14

  • arcam #5 7 months ago

    You keep mentioning the controversy of a mother and child killed in an explosion. It seems gaming websites really want this to be controversial, but I don't see anyone else being particularly bothered by it.
    Edited by arcam at 08/11/11 @ 13:17

  • spekkeh #6 7 months ago

    Honestly, it's the fans you want to listen to.

    Yes, that will be good for the industry. Modern Warfare 4: Play a homosexual black slave having sex with your enemy's mom.

  • FogHeart #7 7 months ago

    @spekkeh I always keep a small bowl of soapy water next to my headset to wash my ears out...

  • dsmx #8 7 months ago

    This press release brought to you by the activision PR department, trying to get people to hate us less one PR statement at a time.
    Edited by dsmx at 08/11/11 @ 13:22

  • -cerberus- #9 7 months ago

    @captain_Carl: I agree. I havn't bought a single COD or BF game. Ever. And I'm never going to.
    Edited by -cerberus- at 08/11/11 @ 18:21

  • Yeoung #10 7 months ago

    They're about as good and essential to the gaming industry as Michael Bay is to the film industry.

    Games that focus on content, innovation and new modes of interaction and/or player feedback are good and essential to the industry. Games that shape the medium as a whole in a positive way, rather than a graphics-oriented, marketing-heavy kind of way.

  • lordofthedunce #11 7 months ago

    @dsmx

    Infinity Ward exec producer Mark Rubin hit out at the "silly publisher talk"

    It's one of the devs speaking about daft publishers so I'm not sure what you're on about tbh!

  • Eraser #12 7 months ago

    @Yeoung There surely is room for both? I can enjoy a rollercoaster ride like Modern Warfare just as well as the more thoughtful gameplay behind a game such as From Dust.

  • DozyKipper #13 7 months ago

    I'll tell you something for nothing. MW3 just looks like the same old shit recycled from MW2.

  • The_Beef_Hammer #14 7 months ago

    @Stratix

    Gotta agree with you. COD for quick arcade shoot em in the face action, and BF3 for more considered teamplay.

    Choice is a good thing, right?

  • Beano #15 7 months ago

    @captain_Carl Could not agree more.

  • DrStrangelove #16 7 months ago

    verbal warfare between publishing executives at EA and Activision

    I'm certainly no Acti/CoD fancier, but really, the warfare seemed quite one-sided to me. All I noticed was attention whores at EA slinging mud at CoD, probably annoying Activision less than me.

    Also, the immense marketing campaign on EG, while I have seen remarkably few MW3 ads (can't remember one, actually). Thankfully, Activision seems to know they are in a position that they don't need this shit.

  • darkmorgado #17 7 months ago

    It's only better for the industry if the money coming from that success is reinvested in creating and nurturing original IP, something which Activision isn't exactly known for.

  • jonfon #18 7 months ago

    @-cerberus-
    You've missed out so. BF 1942 and Nam were brilliant games altogether.

    Personally I've far too much other stuff to be playing to be trying either of these though (also I only managed 5 minutes of Black Ops on my new PS3 last Xmas before I buggered off to buy and download Wipeout instead)

  • frazzl #19 7 months ago

    @spekkeh Wouldn't that be the enemy's dad since the slave is gay?

  • AaronTurner #20 7 months ago

    @captain_Carl Presumably we should go back to when everything was a brown shooter?

  • captain_Carl #21 7 months ago

    @AaronTurner No. Back to when studios actually made things other thank fucking shooters. And we could have an online mode that didn't revolve around perks (which are shit)

  • urban #22 7 months ago

    Silly publisher talk? When Executive Producers open their mouths it IS silly publisher talk!

  • Paul_cz #23 7 months ago

    The sooner CoD dies, the better it will be for industry. I mean, for me. Me who likes more innovative and interesting titles than CoD.

  • Fallen_Angel #24 7 months ago

    @AaronTurner And before that, WW2.

  • Yeoung #25 7 months ago

    To further elaborate on what kind of games are good for the industry;

    Little Big Planet
    El Shaddai
    Ico
    MAG
    Psychonauts

    These games have substantial gameplay flaws, incorporated poor design decisions and were/will be less-than-spectacularly recieved. However, each of them brings something new to the table, be it a new way for developers and consumers to interact with one another, a focus on unrestricted artistic vision, triggers for emotional immersion, a raised bar of the scope/scale of multiplayer and the create-a-demographic approach, respectively.

    There are yet more examples of course, but these illustrate how games can alter the gaming landscape and inspire people to think about- and approach games (and gaming in general) in a very different way.

    If Littlebigplanet was to make the evening news for its innocent yet challenging nature, its vision to have a mutually beneficial relationship between developer and consumer and its incentive to be creative, the public perception of gaming would be altered positively. However if stories/articles about rat-slaughter, baby eating and whore-pummeling are all that reach the world, gaming ends up getting demonized.

    Success is measured by impact, and impact is measured by consequence. Will a boy that was inspired by the level creator in LBP and goes on to create entertainment that will in turn inspire thousands be featured on the news, or will it be a kid that did something stupid and happens to own videogames.

    Correlation =/= causation, but it does equal shoddy reporting, fading journalistic integrity, and an art form that is becoming less and less inspirational in the eyes of millions.

    Pardon my rant.
    Edited by Yeoung at 08/11/11 @ 15:52

  • chrisola #26 7 months ago

    Give IW the Frostbite 2 Engine and see what they can do for SP game let them do a barebones PvP deathmatch MP mode aswell.

    DICE take the MP side and call it 'Battle Mode' or something, and have the epic 64 player games we love from the BF series.

    Then have a co-op special missions mode made by both DICE and IW pulling together - can have small 4 vs 4 co-op missions like hostage rescues etc.

    These could be structured (like MAG) into a persistent on-line 'world map' which can show if the United Forces (eg UK,USA etc) or the Opposing Forces (eg Russia, Korea, etc) is currently winning - Battlelog + Elite mixed together - as each game mode would have paths to follow for both armies.

    Then, sell it all for £60, or let people pay per part they want, eg £30 for the on-line only DICE bit, £20 for the SP game etc etc

    name it: "Call of the Battlefield: World Wargasm"

    Package it up with annual paid updates for new features etc until the underlying tech needs overhauling, and then start again.

    Gamers rejoice!

    Publishers print money.


    ps My fee for this idea is 5% of sales revenue :p

  • arcam #27 7 months ago

    Post deleted at 09:51:32 12-12-2011

  • AOFanboi #28 7 months ago

    Both are "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". Bring on Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney.

  • Lucodeath #29 7 months ago

    People getting killed by explosions is on the news everyday and thats real not a game. Doesnt bother most gamers with the game content I guess.
    Edited by Lucodeath at 08/11/11 @ 19:26

  • The-Jack-Burton #30 7 months ago

    No, it's better for your pockets. If you were interested in keeping the industry healthy you would be leading the way in decreasing the cost of games. This would lower the barrier of entry for current and future customers, decrease piracy and used-game sales, and make it much easier for smaller budget developers/publishers to not only exist but thrive. All of this would increase revenue and secure future growth, for the industry as a whole.

    Online pass, seasonal pass, dlc, drm, are all by-products of games being too expensive. The industry justifies all of this by blaming us for being bad customers.

  • dennett316 #31 7 months ago

    @-cerberus- Wow...you're so coooool!! You must be a bad-ass for exercising your right to pick and choose the entertainment you partake in...you rebel you.