Thu, Oct 15, 2009 | 16:14 BST

Infinity Ward Vs VG247 readers – no holds barred

modernwarfare25

We asked you for questions about Modern Warfare 2. You told us. We asked Infinity Ward’s Rob Bowling at a London hotel about an hour ago. We managed to get in 14 questions for you, and Rob answered everything. He’s a very good sport.

So. Here you go. Hit the link.

Dralen: Has the PC version been delayed?

Rob Bowling: Officially, no.

SlayerNL: Has the team been working closely with Microsoft and Sony to handle day one traffic on the multiplayer side?

Rob Bowling: Yes, very much. And we have been throughout the development of the game.

SlayerNL – Will there be a Steam version?

Rob Bowling: Yes.

SlayerNL – Will there be Prestige in the PC version?

Rob Bowling: Yes. These are easy.

ReeceHeywood – Not everyone has Xbox Live or PSN so will the game feature offline bots for use in multiplayer?

Rob Bowling: No, there are no offline bots. But you have Spec Ops mode for offline split-screen which is, you know, pretty much the same thing.

Herlock – Do you like Bobby Kotick?

Rob Bowling: [Laughs] I love Bobby Kotick.

Herlock – Are you tired of the war-based FPS yet?

Rob Bowling: No. Right now we love making what we’re making, and if we didn’t love it we’d move onto something else.

JonFE – Does IW directly benefit from Modern Warfare 2′s premium pricing?

Rob Bowling: No.

djhsecondnature – Are you worried that the UK price hike will deter some potential buyers from playing your game?

Rob Bowling: No.

bobbymington/Windsmeare – Any plans for aliens or zombies?

Rob Bowling: Never. Never ever.

SticKboy – Bobby Kotick’s made some pretty controversial comments in recent months. Are you worried that the way he’s perceived may have an affect on marketing and PR for Infinity Ward products?

Rob Bowling: No. I think people appreciate our games for what they are, and can separate what we do from what Activision does.

SticKboy – Do you foresee Activision making similar mistakes as EA before John Riticiello came in and re-focussed on quality and innovation?

Rob Bowling: No. We’re always focussed, as Infinity Ward, on quality and innovation.

SticKboy – Can you please explain the price disparity between CoD:MW2 and a) CoD:MW1; b) The US price ($59.99 vs £55.99) and c) Battlefield: Bad Company 2?

Rob Bowling: [Laughs] That is an Activision question.

SticKboy – If you had the power, would you seek Bobby Kotick’s replacement?

Rob Bowling: [Proper laugh] Yeah, I can’t answer that.

30 comment-trail-alt Posted in: Action, Activision Blizzard, Hot, PC, PS3, Shooter, Xbox 360
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30 comments

#1

reask
15/10/09, 4:02 pm

Where’s my question?
/cries :(

#2

Dralen
15/10/09, 4:05 pm

Woot! I feel so important cos my question was top of the list. And I’m really pleased that the PC version isn’t being delayed. :D

#3

blackdreamhunk
15/10/09, 4:07 pm

lol thank you vg247 for the questions. I just wanted to see where cod game devs stands in regards to pc gaming.

#4

ReeceHeywood
15/10/09, 4:07 pm

No bots? Fuck sake.

Cheers Pat for asking.

#5

mescalineeyes
15/10/09, 4:08 pm

that was fantastic. I reckon there’s a proper interview coming up some time as well…?

#6

Windsmeare
15/10/09, 4:11 pm

Damn, no Zombies.

#7

Robo_1
15/10/09, 4:13 pm

@mescalineeyes

Indeed. Surly that can’t be it????

#8

bobbymington
15/10/09, 4:19 pm

Damn no Aliens ;)

#9

DrDamn
15/10/09, 4:33 pm

Bah – someone else asked the question I wanted answered (respawning enemies) so I didn’t bother asking as well and it don’t look like it was asked :/ – is there more to come Pat?

#10

ScreenTearing
15/10/09, 4:35 pm

“I think people appreciate our games for what they are, and can separate what we do from what Activision does” Ouch.

Of course it’s no surprise that Infinity Ward and Activision don’t have a good relationship.

#11

DrDamn
15/10/09, 4:36 pm

Re:Bots – worth reading the EG hands on piece with regard to the co-op SpecOps stuff – whilst not strictly bots in MP it does sound good and surprisingly varied.

#12

Patrick Garratt
15/10/09, 4:38 pm

Dralen – I hate to be the prophet of doom, but I’d pay close attention to the word “officially,” there…

#13

G1GAHURTZ
15/10/09, 4:39 pm

Cool!

#14

Gekidami
15/10/09, 4:41 pm

14 questions all about Kotick and pricing. Not impressed. :(

#15

SticKboy
15/10/09, 4:41 pm

Thankyou for getting my questions answered, Pat! Mr Bowling seems like an okay guy to me :)

#16

Dralen
15/10/09, 4:42 pm

@Pat
Dammit, I thought there might have been something behind that word, but I was secretly praying it wasn’t true.

#17

phatb0y
15/10/09, 4:42 pm

Good questions. Shit answers.

Annoying when these interviews turn out like they have the meter running.

#18

SticKboy
15/10/09, 4:45 pm

@ Gek – all your questions about gameplay will be answered when the game gets released. This was a good chance for us to ask the questions that rarely ever get past the big publisher’s PR machine.

#19

Gekidami
15/10/09, 4:47 pm

And in the end he pretty much answered them in the most evasive ways possible anyway…

#20

JonFE
15/10/09, 4:47 pm

Cheers for shooting questions on our behalf Pat!

#21

SticKboy
15/10/09, 4:54 pm

Getting proper answers wasn’t the point – I never expected serious ones anyway. I just wanted to drive the message home.

#22

slayernl
15/10/09, 5:00 pm

Thanks a lot pat, for the Q&A

#23

Herlock
15/10/09, 5:04 pm

Pat, yu rock! :)
Rob Bowling seems very cool.

#24

freedoms_stain
15/10/09, 5:13 pm

VG247 is going to get a reputation for Kotick hating.

Next week: VG247 interviews Bobby Kotick himself with reader questions such as: “Why are you such a cunt, you cunt?”

“which of the following describes you best: a) giant douche, or b) turd sandwich”

#25

Detale
15/10/09, 5:19 pm

You say that like it’s a bad thing :)

#26

SticKboy
15/10/09, 5:21 pm

freedoms_stain, that post has had me chuckling for the past two minutes now :)

#27

freedoms_stain
15/10/09, 5:37 pm

Deep down we’re all just jealous because he gets paid millions to tell people what to do.

Oh yeah, and he stifles innovation.

Cunt.

#28

Stephany Nunneley
15/10/09, 6:19 pm

In life, you are always choosing between a giant douche and a turd sandwich.

#29

freedoms_stain
15/10/09, 6:41 pm

Steph, often true, however it’s rare that you come across an individual that embodies both :p

#30

Michael O'Connor
18/10/09, 12:38 am

“VG247 is going to get a reputation for Kotick hating.”

You say that like it’s a bad thing.

Credit to VG247, most websites wouldn’t even have *dared* to ask the questions regarding him. They’d be deemed “too controversial”.

People are complaining that the answers were too evasive, but you can easily read between the lines here; Infinity Ward obviously don’t have much love for Activision’s approach to publishing, but they clearly take pride in the work and innovation that they do… as they rightly should.

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