Next Call of Duty not for PC

By Tom Bramwell Published 5 May, 2006

Next-gen only.

Activision's next Call of Duty game, due out some time between October and the end of December, will appear on next-gen consoles only according to CEO Bobby Kotick.

Speaking to investors yesterday, Kotick noted that the new CoD is "not a PC product, it's a console product and it's all next-gen".

That doesn't necessarily mean there won't be any more PC Call of Duty titles, of course - last year Activision released different versions for PS2/Xbox/Cube and PC/Xbox 360 formats, giving next-gen gamers a taste of the PC version while a more suitable alternative found its way to current-gen consoles.

The more interesting question is whether or not Infinity Ward's doing this year's console title themselves - Treyarch handled Big Red One last year - and whether this means that future PC titles will not be mirrored on next-generation systems.

Golly it's all a bit complicated. Expect it to become a bit clearer as find out what Activision's up to at E3.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (57) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • timmyc #1 6 years ago

    This has got to be a bad thing. The original CoD and CoD2 developed by Infinty Ward are far superior to the 'others'.

    Btw the ATI GPU in the 360 is very different to their PC brethren and we know sod all about the PS3 one so you can't really compare them.

  • freddymercurystwin #2 6 years ago

    Ah, Poor babies!

  • UncleLou #3 6 years ago

    Weird decision. I would have thought CoD 2 worked (and sold) pretty well on the 360 and PCs.

    Just as well I am a bit tired of the franchise now. Bought CoD2 on the release day, and finished it 2 weeks ago. :p

  • tannerd #4 6 years ago

    How many consumer PC's do you know of with 3 or more cores? If you expect developers to actually take advantage of the new consoles, you've got to expect the PC ports to fall by the wayside.

  • stuarty_2003 #5 6 years ago

    The undercover story for E3 is that, shhh, James Bond will be in the next Call of Duty.

  • UncleLou #6 6 years ago

    How many consumer PC's do you know of with 3 or more cores? If you expect developers to actually take advantage of the new consoles, you've got to expect the PC ports to fall by the wayside.

    That hasn't kept developers from compromising PC versions for years. :p

    Anyway, I'll just play Crysis instead. :D

  • MaxiSleep #7 6 years ago

    Every cycle this kinda thing happens with some idiot CEO deciding to make a quick buck/headline/whatever by announcing something along these lines. In the end it makes frag all difference apart from lowering sales for the company.

  • djchump #8 6 years ago

    lol - but surely programming for multicore processors = pretty much the same as programming for any multi-threaded OS... ?

    We need someone who knows what they're talking about in this thread - stat!

  • Rambaldi #9 6 years ago

    MAJOR GAME DEVELOPER IN "WHY BOTHER FAFFING AROUND WITH ALL THOSE DIFFERENT HARDWARE PERMUTATIONS AND DRIVER ISSUES" SHOCKER!!
    Edited by 1 at 05/05/06 @ 10:45

  • Talha #10 6 years ago

    1) You fire up your machine
    2) You insert the disk
    3) No need to turn off the Antivirus, clean up the registry, free up the RAM, anxiously looking up the readme file to see if your two-month-old video card is still supported.
    3) You press a button....
    4) ....And the game pops right in front of you, not warning you of memory shortage, not suttering and freezing (at least most of the time), not feverishly trying to detect a DVD RW drive so that it can find an excuse not to run, not fumbling around for version 5.41(b) of Driver X Zeta 4

    For me, that's next gen. Make no mistake, I own a good-ish PC and always buy the PC version of a cross platform title. Still, sometime I start wondering whether it is worth all that trouble...

  • djchump #11 6 years ago

    @Talha - you missed a few steps ;-)

    5) You booted the game without fully logging into Live and it wipes your save game
    6) A patch is released for the game over XBox Live
    7) A firmware update is released over XBox Live
    8) Your Xbox accidentally scratches the disk or overheats and cuts out

    :-P

    Anyhows, odds on that this next COD will just debut on the consoles and then eventually make its way to the PC. They'd be pretty daft to ignore the insatiable market for decent FPSs on PC ;-)
    Edited by 1 at 05/05/06 @ 10:58

  • stuarty_2003 #12 6 years ago

    @ Talha: a swell description, sir.

    edit: Also an insatiable market for FPS's on Xbox branded consoles me thinks.....
    Edited by 1 at 05/05/06 @ 11:00

  • Talha #13 6 years ago

    @djchump : LOL. Actually that's because I don't own the console in question :-). I have a PS2 and incredibly enough, it hasn't broken down for me yet in 4 years. But you have a point there - I think having a hard disk on a console, coupled with online capability, opens a kind of Pandora's box - allowing devs to tweak the game constantly. I also think that console games are going to get just as painful, the way technology is advancing.

    By the way, I too think the announcement is BS. CoD is first and foremost a PC franchise = the X360 version succeeded only because it was identical to the PC game. Look how ill received Big Red One was, unless I am much mistaken. And it deserved it.
    Edited by 1 at 05/05/06 @ 11:03

  • stuarty_2003 #14 6 years ago

    CoD2 was also successful as it shat all over PDZ and was, frankly, the best FPS (and game) at the 360 launch.


    Also, is it only me that considers PC's unbranded when it comes to "generation branding"? That is, PC's are constantly advancing, so how can you brand them with the 'next-gen' paint?

  • djchump #15 6 years ago

    @Talha - yeah, my thoughts exactly. CoD is a AAA PC title, as the quality of 1 and 2 were exceptional - they're great online as well! I'm pretty sure this has been reflected in the dropping sales of MoH games and high sales for CoD.
    So I reckon this will either be a gash console version in the same vein as the Big Red One, or it will make it's way to PC eventually - they might even have deals with Sony and Microsoft to keep it console exclusive for a few months or something

  • Talha #16 6 years ago

    @stuarty_2003 : It is kind of paradoxical - you see, a current PC without a GPU is worse than a GameBoy at playing games, whereas one with a 7900 or an X1900 is right up there with the 360. I guess for PC, a better line of generation divide is the Direct X version - for example, DX9.0 games such as Far Cry and Doom and HL2 defined the next gen for shooters, and surprisingly very few games have caught up with those even in two years.

    @djchump: That's what I think- they will develop the console version, gauge the market, and then make the transition to PC.

    @LeDil: Still that's a lot going on, given that it is a damned console, innit?
    Edited by 1 at 05/05/06 @ 11:17

  • urban #17 6 years ago

    scum bags.

    theres no reason to do that.

  • gizmo #18 6 years ago

    I agree (LeDilettante), and patches are not going away, full stop.

    At least on live they are synchronised and automatic.

    Also, take the latest PDZ patch - its introduced bots into Darkops. How cool is that?
    Edited by 1 at 05/05/06 @ 11:17

  • djchump #19 6 years ago

    @LeDilettante - no it isn't wildly inaccurate :-P
    Firmware/dashboard - same difference to me, it's still the console's software.
    While not wanting to troll the XBox fanboys, all those things *have* happened.

    I was merely making the point that the common complaints levelled at PC-gaming is slowly starting to occur with console games as well, as the hardware and network accessibility of the consoles reaches that of the PC ;-)

  • S.J.Rogers #20 6 years ago

    @ LeDilettante---Took the words out of my mouth..!

  • Baz_Dude #21 6 years ago

    PC's made the next gen my ass.

    Just because the hardware used in consoles is made with chips from top brand hardware developers doesn't mean a PC inspir3ed them.

    Anyways, Even if it is released on Next Gen consoles it will definatly hit the PC format shortly after anyways so stop complaining

  • jozz #22 6 years ago

    Oh God not another patching debate.

    "I was merely making the point that the common complaints levelled at PC-gaming is slowly starting to occur with console games as well, as the hardware and network accessibility of the consoles reaches that of the PC ;-)"

    If by slowly you mean since the SNES days then yes you're right o_O
    The ps2 and Xbox were also patched heavily, years ago...


    Anyway. I liked CoD2 but it wasn't entertaining enough to care much about a new one. A large 'Meh' from me :)

  • Psi #23 6 years ago

    oh noes!

    I honestly really had to just play omaha beach with slightly better graphics again. I feel I'm missing out.

    poor germans all these games we're never gonna drop it are we?

  • kangarootoo #24 6 years ago

    Aww, this thread was just bound to turn into a slanging match.

    My 2p for what its worth.

    @disc

    "This year is the year of multicore and PC developers know it. If they dont they need to learn about it."

    Multi-core PCs have been around for donkeys years. Not as games machines I admit, but they are nothing new in a general sense. Even from a games perspective, I believe Quake 3 supported multi core systems (happy to be corrected if not though).

    For the majority of PC games developers, even in this "modern age", coding for multi-CPU systems is a waste of resources as the vest majority of gamers don't own them. Whereas every next-gen console is multi-core.

    @Maxisleep
    "In the end it makes frag all difference apart from lowering sales for the company."

    Its not about sales, it about profits (well actually, big business being the weird machine that it is, its actually about turnover). Sales and profits are not necessarily the same thing because production costs can vary wildly depending on your product.

    Which brings me to,

    @Rambaldi

    "MAJOR GAME DEVELOPER IN "WHY BOTHER FAFFING AROUND WITH ALL THOSE DIFFERENT HARDWARE PERMUTATIONS AND DRIVER ISSUES" SHOCKER!!"

    Pretty much spot on, though its not the only factor. Truth is the PC market is smaller than it once was. So you could extend you comment to "why bother faffing for ever diminishing returns".

    I'm not slating PC gaming, I would hope people could stay objective and this thread could rise above all that, but the reasons put forward by a few posters make good sense.

    I personally think that PC gaming has some reshaping ahead of it. I don't think it is going away, but I think the sorts of games it will provide is on the change. There is increasingly less justification for spending a large amount of cash on a PC purely for gaming.

    However, the one thing that consoles currently fail to provide (and is probably quite important for games like CoD) is a modding scene. The nature of the current console market is one that is controlled tightly be the manufacturer. You don't need anyone's permission to release a PC app or mod and that is where the key difference still remains.

    It is possible that future console games will support modding more openly (Far Cry had a stunning level editor for a console game), but even then you are at the mercy of the console maker as to what tools you get because you simpoly can't make your own.

    I'm written too much already. So I shall stop.

  • Talha #25 6 years ago

    @kangarootoo : Very, very nice post. Sums up why PC gaming is shrinking perfectly.

    As for the modding scene, I am not techno-savvy, but I feel it is difficult for console mods to work since bulk of the data is being lifted off a disc - at the very least it will make a modder's life miserable as he will have to emulate the whole disc running in an altered state. Again, that's just my gut feeling.

  • TheEnd #26 6 years ago

    Meh. If multiplayer isn't improved from the pile of crap that is CoD2 MP, then it's not worth bothering with anyway, regardless of format.

  • MrAtheist #27 6 years ago

    People have been pushing the "PC-gaming-is-doomed!!" line for the past 20 years. Its going nowhere.

  • Talha #28 6 years ago

    @MrAtheist : Exactly, it is going nowehere. ;-)

    Thing is, it will be there as long as we have PCs. However, it will keep shrinking forever as it is now, unless the ridiculous hardware cycle and costs sort themselves out.

  • UncleLou #29 6 years ago

    Well, surprisingly, I don't agree with you, Talha. :)

  • tobs #30 6 years ago

    Years from now, I'll dust down an old PC, boot up my Xbox360 emulator and download a CoD iso. Sigh... nostalgia...

  • smoison #31 6 years ago

    Yadda, yadda, yadda,

    They just want a different COD for consol then they do for PC's. They did it with the Big Red One, and they will do it again.

    PC Shooters are quite different from consol shoters, hence why HALO was average on PC and considered AwEsOmE on Xbox (a la Goldeneye).

    Say what you want about the PC "Hardware Cycle", thanks to that, next christmas, all the consols will looks old'ish next to top notch PC games.

  • kangarootoo #32 6 years ago

    "People have been pushing the "PC-gaming-is-doomed!!" line for the past 20 years. Its going nowhere."

    I agree. I think it will simply change, just as it has done before.

    The sorts of games tradionally played on PCs are more increasingly becoming available on consoles. But that doesn't mean PCs have no place, they (and by they, I actually mean the games, not the systems) will simply evolve the way consoles have over the last few years and become the preferred platform for new genres (and retain ownership of some existing ones).

    @Talha

    "but I feel it is difficult for console mods to work since bulk of the data is being lifted off a disc"

    The main reason modding on a console isn't really an option is manufacturer control. With HDs becoming standard the previous restrictions aren't an issue. But the whole console sales model doesn't currently allow for users to make homebrew software or mods unregulated.

  • Rambaldi #33 6 years ago

    @smoison

    PC Halo was considered a mess because the ported code was a complete shambles and the game, even on an uber-rig, ran like a slug in a bitch race.

    Halo rocks. Simple as.

  • kangarootoo #34 6 years ago

    "unless the ridiculous hardware cycle and costs sort themselves out."

    I would also say on that note, that the cost has been coming down over the last few years. From my viewpoint anyway.

    You do still pay £350 for a top end GFX card, but now I think about it that was the case back in 2000/2001, which means they have effectively been getting cheaper. Besides, you will always pay an inflated premium for the very best kit. Consoles always have a lead for a short time after launch, but a year or so from now the 360 and PS3 won't look as good as the very best PCs out there. Thats upgradability for you though, something that helps consoles (less HW combos mean better stability) but also hinders them for the reason given.

    I would say that mid-range PCs are very well priced these days. You can walk into any PC store now and buy a PC capable of running modern games well for about £500. You couldn't have done that back in yr 2000 (I build my first PC just after the start of Y2K, hence that is my landmark for pricing).

    Plus, PC games are cheaper overall. So over the life of your console there isn't much in it. Consoles are probably a bit cheaper because you will likely have to upgrade your PC more often, but there isn't as much in it as some would suggest.

    I think the main thorn in the side of PCs as the games market grows is that they simply aren't as touchy feely for the general public. A games system sat on top of your DVD player under you nice big telly in front of your comfy sofa is a "lifestyle accessory". A PC sat in a study ohn a desk in fron of an office chair is more of an "admin tool". I think that is part of what is holding PCs back.

    Now if you move towards the media centre PC, small and neat, plugged into your HDTV, wireless keyboard and mouse.... sounds very much like a console to me. Like I said before, they are essentially the same thing technically, it is more the user experience that defines them as different to each other.

    Horses for courses, the PC will always be around insofar as the "upgradable console with keyboard and mouse" will always be around, just like the console will always be around in an equally evolving form.

    EDIT: Man, I did it again. If I was slow at typing you wouldn't all have to suffer this.
    Edited by 1 at 05/05/06 @ 14:12

  • Teeth #35 6 years ago

    I'm gonna call you "Essay John" from now on :)

  • Xerx3s #36 6 years ago

    "How many consumer PC's do you know of with 3 or more cores? If you expect developers to actually take advantage of the new consoles, you've got to expect the PC ports to fall by the wayside."

    How many 360 games do you know that use more than one? ...

  • stuarty_2003 #37 6 years ago

    @Xerx3s: Geometry Wars?

  • Xerx3s #38 6 years ago

    "I think having a hard disk on a console, coupled with online capability, opens a kind of Pandora's box"

    Again, patching consolegames isnt new, even the 2600 had patched games/machines.

  • Rambaldi #39 6 years ago

    @kanga
    "a year or so from now the 360 and PS3 won't look as good as the very best PCs out there"

    Diagree. Right now they're close and pretty soon they'll be just as good as IMHO. Look how far Halo went to Halo2. Considering the horsepower under the 360 I think there's every reason to believe it will maintain the pace in the next few years without hitting your wallet every 6-9 months. The money you save could buy you a decent HD screen!

    "Plus, PC games are cheaper overall. So over the life of your console there isn't much in it"

    ..but PC games are worth diddley-sqaut when traded in. New 360 titles are getting over £20 and therefore only costing you about as much (if you trade that is).

    @Xer3s

    "How many 360 games do you know that use more than one?"

    Give it time my boy..all good things:)

    I have to admit, purely from a business point of view, I see most PC games fading into the sunset over this gen of consoles. Shame. Let's hope MS don't allow devs to use a mouse in their games or that last bastion of PC glory (RTS) may fall too....

  • kangarootoo #40 6 years ago

    @Rambaldi

    "Diagree. Right now they're close and pretty soon they'll be just as good as IMHO"

    I think you are saying that PCs are pretty close currently? Erm, I think we agree then. I'm not going to cut my "in a year or so" timescale in stone, I was just being general about the fact that PC's aren't quite up to 360 (and predicted PS3) levels of tech, but aren't that far behind.

    I admit I didn't really factor in trade-in costs. Again, I'm just supposing. It may be that the average PC gamer buys more games (due to reduced vosts) and so in the end spends more. It may be that the majority of console gamers don't trade in their games but prefer to hang onto them.

    Without any hard figures I wouldn't like to assert of those suggestions as fact. Again, I don't think we really disagree much on this unless we pore over the fine print :)

  • kangarootoo #41 6 years ago

    "Let's hope MS don't allow devs to use a mouse in their games or that last bastion of PC glory (RTS) may fall too...."

    On that final note. We should try not to be so precious about our chosen platforms. I know that is blind optimism, it was the case back with the ZX Spectrum / C64 divide and I'm sure it will continue ad infinitum.

    But why shouldn't MS (for example) allow mouse use. How would RTA games on consoles be a bad thing? Perhaps it would mean that more PC gamers would "jump ship" (not my choice of term, just used to mimic someone who might see it that way) but a point comes where gamers should just make the choice that suits them best. Not try and mock others who don't make the same choice, but just be happy that they are getting the best gaming experience for their money (in their own particular case).

  • Rambaldi #42 6 years ago

    I'd like to think I'm not precious..maybe pretentious..but not precious:)

  • Rambaldi #43 6 years ago

    P.S. steady on the post lengths kanga old boy...rainforests n'all that!!

  • kangarootoo #44 6 years ago

    Very true. From now I shall restrain myself to posts of not more than 15 wo...

  • Rambaldi #45 6 years ago

    /hehe

  • Xerx3s #46 6 years ago

    I doubt that MS will release a mouse any time soon (not to say that they wont), but it would be nice to play a game like Supreme commander with a mouse on the 360. i can see a shitload of fun implementations. Imo, the keyboard/mouse combination is still superior to joypads.

  • kangarootoo #47 6 years ago

    How about a trackball? That would work on your lap better than a mouse and give the same control (after a little bit of familiarity training). I think the superiority really depends on the application, for RTS game I agree (as much as my new reduced word count will allow anyway).

    OK, so I broke my 15 word limit.

  • Moonprince #48 6 years ago

    Really don't understand the 'cost' issues associated with pc gaming. It's not 'that' expensive, and you certainly don't need to buy the latest '****' as soon as it's released... How 'little' are you people earning...

  • smoison #49 6 years ago

    The best will always be more expensive, and more complicated. Thats just the way things work out, expecilly with technology.

  • Teeth #50 6 years ago

    When you 'speak' in real life, Moonprince, do you 'put' two of your fingers up when you 'emphasise' certain words as if you are erroneously using quotation marks?

  • kangarootoo #51 6 years ago

    @Moonprince

    Oh dear.

    It is, as it has always been, a case of limited disposable income. PC gaming isn't that expensive when compared to buying a house for example. But by your logic, anyone who owns a house would have no issues spending £2k on a PC for gaming because they are clearly loaded.

    Just like kids trying to be trendy will happily spend £100 ona pair of trainers. its a lot to spend on a pair of trainers so they think it makes them seem flush, but in real life £100 is barely a winter gas bill.

    Being able to afford something and thinking it is good value to spend the cash are two entirely different things. At least they are in adult life.

  • Talha #52 6 years ago

    @smoison: Not necessarily. If you define 'best' as 'the most technically advanced', fine, even though that's not true for PC/360 right now. 'Best' technology means the best overall experience, and for people that may come from PCs or consoles. Most expensive does not always mean the best.

    @kangarootoo: I think it is time we started to consider both PC and consoles as gaming machines, period, albeit with different inputs. The lines are blurring day by day, and ultimately it doesn't matter.

    @Moonprince: For something like GRAW or FEAR, you HAVE to have the latest otherwise you will have a sub-PS2 gameplay/graphics experience. I guess that won't matter for Monte Carlo residents like you, but we mere mortals have to consider how much ACTUAL FUN we are having out of our expensive rigs. Of course you can do all sorts of stuff with a PC that you can't with a console, so in the end it is all pretty even.

  • kangarootoo #53 6 years ago

    I totally agree. I observe and comment on the subtle diferences, but I've always said its horses for courses. Each platform suits certain tasks a little more closely, but its a thin line.

  • Bitkari #54 6 years ago


    console & pc are different beasts, but these differences are why they have been able to co-exist for decades, and why they will continue to do so.

    neither is going away, neither is better than the other, they're just different.

    relax.

  • Ryuken #55 6 years ago

    So, anyone seen that 'Look! CGI-footage trying to fake in-game scenes'-trailer on IGN of this game? Activision shows that they've adapted just fine to the console-marketing mindset. :) Ah well, Infinity Ward is busy with something else then. Hopefully something different than a next 'Band of Brothers/Saving Private Ryan'-game wannabe.

  • miiiguel #56 6 years ago

    I think it's a nice move, it would damage the 'image' of a game when it must be done to 'fit' in an average PC (or rig, as it's said in a cool way), in order to have some financial income.
    The 'beauty' of console (or 'closed systems' in general) is that you can 'stretch' it to the limits, and you know exactly how it's going to look at your customers' home. It's good for the developer it's good for the entertainment system's owner.

    p.s: I like '''s

  • Talha #57 6 years ago

    @miiiguel : You just don't 'like' them, you are 'downright' in 'love' with 'them'. ;-)