Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 broke revenue records not just for video games, but for all forms of entertainment, meaning that the follow up Black Ops from Treyarch had a lot to live up to. However, despite the fact that the success of the next Call of Duty had a very material impact on the success of Activision in 2011, Treyarch said that Activision applied no external pressure on them.
“People don’t come by our offices and say ‘Hey, this game sold this many map packs, you better do the same or all bets are off,'” said design director David Vonderhaar. “Those aren’t conversations that happen. The only thing that is in my control is making [recently released DLC] First Strike something people want to buy. It s not practical for me is to go ‘Oh God, this map pack sold ten bajillion, and I need to do the same.’ All I can do is make First Strike awesome. I just try to focus on that and remain distraction-free from any business or social pressure. Nothing else is in my control and I have to remain level-headed about that.”
“Still, there’s no avoiding comparisons to a game, particularly when it is the direct predecessor in the world’s most successful game series. Following Modern Warfare 2 was a role that Treyarch embraced, however.”
“Every developer dreams of making the No.1 selling title in the history of gaming,” he continued. “You want to make the biggest, strongest, highest-rated, most critically acclaimed and best-selling video game on the planet. We looked at Modern Warfare 2 and said ‘What an amazing benchmark, let’s go get it!.’ It drives a lot of what we do everyday. It is a huge inspiration to us, and for us to even be in that league, that’s fantastic.”
Source: MCV
