A former Call of Duty producer has stated that Activision's popular franchise is purposefully designed to "make the most money possible" from its players by manipulating them. Mark Rubin, who worked on Call of Duty for years at Infinity Ward on titles like the original Modern Warfare trilogy, made this statement on social media, while acknowledging that there are "great people" at Activision today.
"A lot of games, Call of Duty included, just focus on how to make the most money possible out of the player base. They rely heavily on [fear of missing out] marketing and [engagement-optimized matchmaking]. But I feel like it used to be just more about the quality of the game which would drive players to play," he said. "And that means making the game more player centric. i.e. less engagement based tactics and higher quality experiences for the players. Better maps, modes etc."
In the past, Call of Duty games would succeed because they offered a compelling experience that encouraged people to play for that reason specifically and not because Activision spent a lot of money on marketing.
Rubin's advice to developers hoping to help their games succeed? "Be more like Larian, less like Activision," he said, referencing the studio behind the massively popular Baldur's Gate 3.
Despite Rubin saying this, he maintains that "there are some great people at Activision and their studios." He felt compelled to speak out, though, because he feels like Call of Duty and Activision have "evolved into something they weren't and haven't been able to escape."
Rubin didn't share these thoughts totally out of the blue. He commented in response to a fan who tagged him in a post celebrating Rubin's latest game, XDefiant, and decrying the state of Call of Duty.
To be sure, Activision has added more microtransactions to Call of Duty in recent years. Black Ops 6, for example, now has paid event passes, beginning with its Squid Game crossover and continuing with TMNT. The newest paid event pass, which allows players to acquire a Seth Rogen playable character, arrived this week.
XDefiant was designed and produced by Rubin at Ubisoft, but the game failed to find an audience and its servers will go offline in June 2025. It's not immediately clear what Rubin is doing next, but he's still working at Ubisoft, according to his LinkedIn.
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"A lot of games, Call of Duty included, just focus on how to make the most money possible out of the player base. They rely heavily on [fear of missing out] marketing and [engagement-optimized matchmaking]. But I feel like it used to be just more about the quality of the game which would drive players to play," he said. "And that means making the game more player centric. i.e. less engagement based tactics and higher quality experiences for the players. Better maps, modes etc."
In the past, Call of Duty games would succeed because they offered a compelling experience that encouraged people to play for that reason specifically and not because Activision spent a lot of money on marketing.
Rubin's advice to developers hoping to help their games succeed? "Be more like Larian, less like Activision," he said, referencing the studio behind the massively popular Baldur's Gate 3.
Despite Rubin saying this, he maintains that "there are some great people at Activision and their studios." He felt compelled to speak out, though, because he feels like Call of Duty and Activision have "evolved into something they weren't and haven't been able to escape."
Rubin didn't share these thoughts totally out of the blue. He commented in response to a fan who tagged him in a post celebrating Rubin's latest game, XDefiant, and decrying the state of Call of Duty.
To be sure, Activision has added more microtransactions to Call of Duty in recent years. Black Ops 6, for example, now has paid event passes, beginning with its Squid Game crossover and continuing with TMNT. The newest paid event pass, which allows players to acquire a Seth Rogen playable character, arrived this week.
XDefiant was designed and produced by Rubin at Ubisoft, but the game failed to find an audience and its servers will go offline in June 2025. It's not immediately clear what Rubin is doing next, but he's still working at Ubisoft, according to his LinkedIn.
Source