Infinity Ward, Neversoft Merging into Single "Super Studio"

It's shocking to remember that Neversoft and Infinity Ward were the names associated with the two biggest franchises in the world as little as five years ago. Now, their stars have fallen so far that it's not even worth it to keep both of their names around as a token gesture.

What a volatile, baffling industry.

Good work Scoops! While I wish everyone at NS the best, it's sad to see another developer disappear, especially with a ridiculous name like Neversoft.

@mr_bnuts: Pretty sure Radical is being downsized/closed down and something similar is rumoured for High Moon. And they killed Bizarre which pretty much makes them the worst company on the planet.

@mchampton: It sounds lame but it does communicate in a word that a bunch of developers aren't being laid off. Becoming something bigger instead of cutting a bunch of fat.

360 no-scope scooped.

COD has been milked to death. How many more cods can we take? they did this with guitar hero and it will get to a point were people will go another cod meh don't care.

Seems like people are making a bigger deal of this news than it actually is...

Tony Hawk's dead, Guitar Hero's dead... might as well carry on working on whatever cod project it is they're working on now. It's not like they have some crazy new ip in the works that gets binned now.

They've been doing whatever Activision tells them to for years. Simple iterations of franchises that have been running too long anyway. There's no wildly visionary creativity lost here, might as well make it official.

Maybe Joel Jewett and Scott Pease can go do something new and exciting now. Other than that there's nothing to see here, really.

@scroll said:

I was never really a big fan of Project Gotham Racing, but I'm still salty about losing Blur 2.

Neversoft has been dead for ages anyway...

@chrisharris said:

Man, Blur could've done so much better, as a series, or even just with a more polished sequel that had more marketing. The whole package was just really slick.

Honestly I kinda had wandered why this has not happened sooner.

@brendan: not YET anyway

Ah yes, just like when Grey Matter got merged into Treyarch!

Eric Hershberg said it.

The fact that this gives each studio a three-year development cycle rather than a two-year setup will (hopefully) offer some variation added to the stagnant world of Call of Duty. Sure, you can't really do much else to a first-person shooter like Call of Duty that hasn't already been done somehow, but that was said back before Call of Duty 4 came out and changed that outlook.

It's also good that this doesn't come with layoffs. Way too often, we see a studio going under and massive layoffs put people out of jobs. Rather than axing the entire studio (like what Activision did to Bizarre Creations among others), they merged the studios. Smart move all around, and it means that they might be able to get a hell of a lot of work done on a new engine or massive overhauls on the current engine, as well as hopefully some anti-cheat systems and other things.

I'm interested to see what Advanced Warfare will offer, and more interested in what this increased development cycle will mean for the franchise. I just hope that Ghosts hasn't killed it all at this point.

At least Raven is still standing strong?

Two scoops of hot scoops straight into my eye holes!

GOT THEM SCOOPS

This might have been relevant 5 years ago. Oh well Patrick, can't all be winners.

Making COD DLC maps.

Define strong when you're at Activision's beck and call.

Fine whatever just make a good game and not a shitty one and i will be satisfied.

Scoops with da Scoop!

Neither of which has made a game I care about in a decade. I imagine this new "super" studio will likely continue the tradition.

Neversoft <3

"Retire."

maybe this is a good thing, at least all the developers will have a job regardless if they like making cod every 3 years. its not like activision was using them for anything orignal.

"Merger"

Wait, didn't Raven software do the multiplayer for ghosts?

So the solution to a brand getting stale is to triple down on development?

I have no problem with this.

Neversoft well, i can't remember the last time they put out anything interesting. Maybe they can add some personality and freshness to infinity ward. Or whatever their merged studio is called / going to be called.

That new CoD trailer looks pretty cool. (yes i know thats sledgehammer a completely different developer) but maybe this means CoD and infinity ward are willing to go "more out there" with their ideas. Neversoft being thrown in only makes me excited for the next "neverward" game.

We already have an idea of what this Infinity Ward/Neversoft Frankenstein creation can produce. They already worked together on Ghosts.

"as a gamer"

@hailinel: Oh? Really? Ghosts looked much less interesting than black ops 2....(granted i didnt play either of them)

Well thanks for taking the wind out of my sails i guess.

@tearhead:

@nathanxplosion: I would say High Moon is more likely to get merged with one of the CoD studios. There was a rumor going around like last month that they're working on the CoD for last gen consoles. Also they were hiring for a "High profile FPS for PS3 and 360".

Can't link on mobile but here is one source. I didn't get it from this website at first but it's the first thing on google.

http://www.charlieintel.com/2014/03/11/rumor-high-moon-studios-could-be-developing-ps3360-version-of-call-of-duty-2014/

I came here just to make sure this was posted.

Thank you.

In the Infinite ways this could have happened I Never saw this coming...

BOOM...I'll be here all week, please tip your wait staff...

Damn. Scoops be scoopin'.

Firstly, SCOOPS SCOOPING.

Secondly, I mean, for all intents and purposes, most of Activision is pretty much already in that state. Raven & Neversoft were already helping out on Call of Duty games. Now, we lose Neversoft by name and some of those guys have lost their jobs, maybe.

I wouldn't be surprised if Raven gets absorbed into Treyarch or Infinity Ward as well. I think High Moon's on its way there too.

Activision's going down the video game factory path further and further. I think when the time comes, they won't renew their Marvel & Transformers licenses and they'll stick to making Skylanders and Call of Duty, with all hands on deck for those two franchises. Meanwhile, Blizzard will do their thing and they will keep making third party deals when they need to, as with Bungie and Destiny.

Its disgusting, in a way, but it sounds like a sound strategy for them in terms of making money.

If they are hoping to use fresh talent to revitalize COD it ain't gonna happen. There's no way to freshen up something as stale and musty as COD.

Patrick's got that inside connection.

Tony Hawk's Prestige: Tango Down in Section 1 Alpha

Shoving an also-ran like Neversoft into the dessicated husk of Infinity Ward and calling the result a "super studio" might be overstating things just a tad, no?

SCOOOOPS

I guess this move doesn't seem entirely surprising, though to be honest I was more expecting Neversoft to be shuttered entirely. They've been kind of twisting in the wind since Guitar Hero was killed, so I guess it's nice to see them officially welcomed on to the current cash cow, albeit a bit late in its lifespan.

And all those wayward hopes for a new Tony Hawk game fade to nothing.

Weekend scoop!

Ah, thanks for clarifying that!

Good idea Activision. Put EVERY SINGLE egg in the Call of Duty basket. Can't end poorly at all.

It feels like every studio Activision has is sent to work on CoD. Including the teams dedicated to DLC and map packs, how many is it now? 5?

So much talent just being used for CoD. To my knowledge, 5 dev studios work on a single series now those being Infinity Ward, Treyarch, Sledgehammer, Neversoft and Raven. Am I missing anyone?