A former Infinity Ward developer has levied some harsh criticism against the perennially popular Call of Duty franchise, claiming it's growing stale. The first-person shooter titan has released a mainline game every single year since 2005's Call of Duty 2, and the original CoD only released two years prior to that.

Speaking with Oklahoma's News 9 (via Polygon), Tulsa native Chance Glasco spoke about creating the Call of Duty franchise and his experience working on some of the series' most iconic installments after being a founding member of Infinity Ward. He said that Call of Duty has "been around so long that it feels like they've run out of ideas at times. It kind of wandered into left field." Glasco pointed to the series' foray into multiplayer as the turning point where "it became huge."

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Glasco got in on the ground floor at Infinity Ward after being an intern working on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Activision then poached key developers to form Infinity Ward. Of the series' earlier days, Glasco said, "I wouldn't say it peaked at Modern Warfare 2, but that was probably the best game we made." Glasco itted to still playing Warzone, and said of the series' move to a modern setting, "I spent more time making WW2 games than America was actually in WW2, so moving to modern settings felt refreshing."

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was indeed a watershed release, laying the groundwork for multiplayer systems that persist through to the Black Ops' seventh installment is expected to arrive later this year.

Has Call Of Duty Really Run Out Of Fresh Ideas?

Yes & No

Glasco's words sound harsh, but they aren't necessarily so, even if there's some truth to them. Call of Duty has built its reputation on repeatedly refining a winning formula; CoD is successful year after year simply because it's CoD. Despite new content often being negligible between each release, the series is regularly polished and feels good to play, and that's exactly what the series' many fans expect.

Despite the familiarity, CoD does actually iterate, even if in small ways. Black Ops 6's omnimovement systems are novel, and I even wrote in my review of Modern Warfare 2 in 2022 that I wished the game would have leaned into the lite survival elements it introduced more. Black Ops 7 likely won't be a major step forward for the series, but it doesn't really have to be (especially for Activision, as long as it remains profitable). Glasco isn't wrong – Call of Duty isn't really innovating anymore, but it's the premier shooter series for a reason, even if I, and many others, wish it would return to the cutting edge.

Source: News 9 (via Polygon)