S&S News: Call of Duty’s annual release has reached “pop-cultural inevitability”, says Hirshberg

“Another year, another Call of Duty” does seem to have become a gaming culture staple, but Activision’s Eric Hirshberg has stressed that the series’ annual release schedule exists because fans demand it.

Speaking with Eurogamer, Hirshberg claims that yearly Call of Duty sequels – which began back in 2006 – exist because the appetite is there among fans.

He said, “The cadence of the releases seems to have found a nice equilibrium with people’s appetite. There’s demand and excitement each and every time out. Then people are playing throughout the year. We have our biggest community of players today.

“Right now there are more people playing Call of Duty today than ever, which is remarkable for a franchise that’s been around as long as Call of Duty has. But, we don’t take anything for granted.”

He added that Treyarch and Infinity Ward’s desire to out-do each other’s games, makes for a good competition, and good games annually. 

He continued, “Having alternating studios is one of the secrets to the franchise’s success. You have different creative people who are strong willed and have minds of their own. Everyone gets what makes a great Call of Duty game. Treyarch and IW are the masters, and have built this thing. So, there’s a lot of common DNA from year to year.

“But then people come in and want to top each other. There’s some healthy competition. There’s a desire within the creative team to not do the same thing and not be stagnant, the same way there is in the player community. Overall it seems to be a good system.”

Are you tired of Call of Duty, or are you excited for the next game?