In a recent interview with ComputerAndVideoGames ezine, director David Anthony discussed some of the changes in Call of Duty Black Ops 2, the next Call of Duty game, and how supportive Activision was of the idea of taking the series in a new direction. Many gamers have wondered whether it was mainly Treyarch’s decision to set the game in the future and make it markedly different from its predecessors. “You have a lot of choices when it comes to entertainment these days and we take that very seriously, and we want to make sure that we give people experiences that they haven’t seen before in the franchise,” Anthony explained. “That was really important to us. So, when I go to Activision and I say that, they’re very supportive of that.”
Anthony also explained that the key element to Treyarch when developing the game was surprise. “Just when people think they’re starting to get to grips with it, we like to pull the rug out from under them a bit.” When asked whether he believed that might deter old fans of the game, Anthony stated that at Treyarch, developers don’t really focus on what’s going on in the outside world, but instead keep their focus on developing a great game.
While Treyarch certainly doesn’t work in a vacuum and surely has been working with some input from the public and also from its publisher Activision, it is hopeful to think that the company really does put its focus on developing a high-quality product first, and worrying about what people think second. These days there aren’t a whole lot of products which are still developed with that kind of artistic courage, so it will be interesting to see where that focus on greatness takes us this November with Black Ops 2.