Speaking in an interview with Joystiq, Dave Stohl, Activision Executive Vice President of Worldwide Studios said that the publisher has made the decision to focus on the development of a single title at a time.
The decision to switch from a business model, which saw multiple studios work on more than one project at a time, came after an Activision consensus that the practice no longer made sense in this day and age.
"It doesn’t make sense anymore," said Stohl. "You’ve really got to focus. People want the freedom to put all their resources against the big opportunity, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We saw it kinda [sic] coalesce around one or two titles a publisher."
Various Activision studios such as 7 Studios, Beenox, Bizarre Creations, FreeStyleGames, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, Neversoft, Radical Entertainment, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, and Vicarious Visions will now be working on one project at a time.
Stohl continued to say the publisher is looking to create more games with a connected network, where online play and community is promoted among users."The fact that Call of Duty is a game that really promotes a connected network — this big backend environment that promotes competition, that promotes play with your buddies — I think those are important things we want to see in all of our games."
Current titles that are in development by Activision studios include: Call of Duty: Black Ops, Monster Jam 2011, DJ Hero 2, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, Wipeout: The Game, GoldenEye 007, and True Crime: Hong Kong.
The decision comes after the publisher’s star studio Infinity Ward, developer of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, saw the dismissal of its two heads as well as an exodus of over 35 staff. A lawsuit against Activision was collectively filed by several dozen Infinity Ward employees claiming that they are owed between $75 million and $125 million in unpaid royalties and bonuses
Image Credit: Joystiq