Twitter's contribution to Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 has some inspiration from Twitter.

(Credit: infinity Ward)

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 might have been designed by a capable team of Infinity Ward developers, but the company had some help: Twitter followers.

Infinity Ward Community Manager Robert Bowling told Develop Online in a recent interview that during the development of the highly-anticipated release, the developer called on Twitter users for help.

"During development, if we are sitting in a design meeting and we are arguing about something, no matter what it is, I can just turn to what is now 60,000 people and post the same question," Bowling told game developer news site Develop Online. "'Do we think players will like this?' well why don't we ask 60,000 of them and get a good representation of what we think they may like?"

But it was the next statement that might cause gamers participating in social networking to rejoice. Bowling told site that Twitter was "fantastic throughout development" and he "would recommend many, many more people adapted that into their design schedule."

Bowling also said that Infinity Ward didn't ignore any responses to its design questions. He said that developers "listened to all" of the suggestions, but filtered out those that didn't match the company's "design philosophy." Suggestions that asked for more gore, for example, ran against the company's design philosophy, Bowling said.

Regardless of whether or not Infinity Ward incorporated every idea into Modern Warfare 2, Bowling told the publication that now more than ever, gamers are getting closer to the development process.

"The average gamer is so much closer to the people who make the games than they ever were before," he told the publication. "And as a result of that they are so much more developer-aware. No longer is it an Activision game, but an Infinity Ward game, or a Treyarch game or a Bungie game. And gamers know where to go to offer their feedback."

Oh, how things have changed. When I was younger, I sent several snail-mail letters to developers asking for design tweaks in some of my favorite franchises. I never heard back. And it seemed that my plea had fallen on deaf ears.

Today, things are different. The developers of one of the most highly anticipated games to be released in 2009 were listening to gamer suggestions on a social network? Amazing. Let's hope for more of it.

[Gold_Storm_Mac]

will be awesome game! can't wait

[rollcage]

They obviously didn't ask whether removing dedicated server support, console commands, and a way to kick trouble makers/cheaters from a match was a good idea. I bet I know what the overwhelming response would have been...

[Haskett2]

Get an X-Box and play this game with the rest of us. I never played the PC version of COD4. I am sorry that your loosing things that you loved. That does suck. COD4 was the best FPS that I had ever played. I was in the Army and I used alot of the weapons in this game. I was like a kid in the candy store for this game. I can't wait for MW2. The money is in the console business now. Give it a try. What do you have to loose.

Thanks :-)

[Jive Turkey]

@Haskett2: What would switching to a console achieve? It would only further limit the capabilities of the game.

[stepyourgameup]

Also the ability to play split screen online matches.

[Orthrok]

Sooo now Bowling is trying to place the blame for the demise of the CVall of Duty franchise on a bunch of twits.

[Orthrok]

Bowling also forgot to mention all of the things IW ripped from the modding community.

[scrubbingbubbles]

They want you to play the game how they made it.
Just how many hours did you put into building the game?
Kind of like buying a car. They will back you with the warranty as long as you dont change anything on it. You can drive it anyway you want....fast or slow....but you go making it all wonky with turbos or a racing chip and they will drop you.
Dont like it? Dont buy it! I will gladly tell you how awesome it is if you provide me with an email.

[Orthrok]

scrubbingbubbles you must realize that the pc community receives no warranty. There are no refunds on PC software, unlike consoles, so your argument holds no water.

My point was that there are things in MW2 developed by modders, such as the AC130 & Tactical Nukes that IW/Acti did not give credit for.

[SpeedwayNative]

Haskett2 - You prob need a clue!

[dementer0]

They apparently didn't listen very well as 90% of the PC community is boycotting the game due to no dedicated servers and no modding.
limited 9v9 per server

I think this says a lot:

"Moriarte
Ignoring IW.net, is the PC version a direct port of the console version?

Mackey-IW
No, PC has custom stuff like mouse control, text chat in game, and graphics settings."


I can't wait :-/

[scrubbingbubbles]

90% of the gaming community is 195,000 odd gamers? Really? And you are all still confused as to why they arent listening to you? Get a clue.....and a console.

[mose0]

PC gamers know they'll play it sooner or later. . .

[stockyjoe]

No they'll wait it out for Battlefield or play some Shattered Horizons. Especially folks that play in tourneys. MW2 is no longer a tourney worthy game.

[tubaloth]

I agree with mose, all the complaining and so forth. They might not buy the game right away, but if the game is as good as its hyped up to be. They realize they don't want to be left out.

Now maybe if they can hold over, and buy Left 4 Dead and maybe wait until some games next year.

The thing is even with all the complaining about the servers. If it does what IW says it does. Thats how Call of Duty games are going to be from now on. The only hope is Metal of Honor.

[edcase512]

Actually mose0, no they (including me) won't. There are plenty of other worthy titles that are not as restrictive to competitive play.

[AbhiR81]

Beyond the obvious technological breakthrough, Infinity Ward's approach is a feat of marketing and prodcut development methodology. Twitter could be used for many more products beyond video games

[TC_Foofighter]

Uh huh... PR machine in overdrive i see

The PC community heard NOTHING from IW regarding their plans for the PC version of MW2 until Rob dropped the bombshell regarding dedicated servers in a webcast 17 0ct on http://bash.podbean.com/2009/10/17/bash-123-pwnt/

I dont remember ever seeing Rob ask the question "hey guys, we're thinking about giving you the same broken console style, laggy p2p match making system and removing your deditcated servers... whaddya think?"

Far from embracing the community as displayed here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMfTR8PBrsE&feature=player_embedded they just ignored us and did it anyway.

"Today, things are different. The developers of one of the most highly anticipated games to be released in 2009 were listening to gamer suggestions on a social network? Amazing. Let's hope for more of it."

I dont think so - Don do you actually research a story before swallowing this crap?