What’s The Difference?

Major games developers has a thing or two to learn from other developers. Some of them seem to have forgotten how they got so big and successfull, forgotten their origins, where others embrace and include theirs. For those of you somewhat interested in the gaming industry, you probably already know who I’m talking about. Well, I’ll name them for those who wonder. I’m talking about Infinity Ward, and Splash Damage.

Maybe Infinity Ward versus Splash Damage is more appropriate?

Let’s talk a little about Splash Damage first, shall we?
Now this is a developer truly in touch with their community, fans and friends. I actually dare say that “community” and “fans” translate into one unified word for Splash Damage. It translates into the word ”friends”.

 Take a quick glance at their forums. It’s not only their community manager Steve “badman” Hessel that’s on there talking to their fanbase, it’s also the developers themselves. Both high profile and lower profiled staff. Asking for opinions and ideas the community have regarding their new title Brink. Every little thing that comes Splash Damage’s way is published directly on their website, notifications sent via Twitter and Facebook. Even their publisher Bethesda Softworks takes part and further notifies and re-tweets the news. They simply share.

Try talking to them once. Post on their forums, or send them a tweet. I promise you, you’ll get response.

I remember a patch that went a little wrong in Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars once, when they were still signed to Activision. The community spoke up instantly, and Splash Damage responded. Also instantly. Work on a new patch to fix the errors caused was announced in the works. Instantly. The patch, we were later told, was entirely funded by Splash Damage themselves, as this was around the time when Activision decided to turn their backs on everything else but in-house developers and their games.

I could go on forever about Splash Damage. Who they were prior to becoming a great developer, where they originate from, the clan their core comes from etc. But it would probably make for too much writing and too much reading for you all to sit through it all. The bottom line is simple. They got it right. They’ve still got it right. And by the looks of things it won’t change this century.

So, now let’s talk about Infinity Ward.
These guys are talented in their story telling and cinematic gameplay. Their games have gone in to history because of their epic multiplayer modes. Their fanbase is in the millions, on all platforms. There’s no doubt about it, and no arguing over it. It’s just a fact.  But lately, everything they stood for and many of us gamers used to love them for, is crumbling. It seems like they now only see the words “community” and “fans” translate into another word. It translates into the word ”Money”.

You never see them on their own website. No news are published. No developers are taking part in any conversations. And their community manager, with the fancy title Creative Strategist, Robert “fourzerotwo” Bowling is only communicating through Twitter, and by the looks of it effectively screening every query except praise and Xbox 360 tweets coming his way.

Today, i found this tweet amongst his replies.
Oh my. He sounds deeply hurt, doesn’t he? Well, it’s what both himself and Infinity Ward gets for portraying themselves as they have lately. Maybe their creative strategy needs to take another turn soonish, then.

Let’s also talk Infinity Ward and their response to their community after the latest Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 patch (1.0.177). This patch fixed the errors it was supposed to, but it created large gaping holes in IWNET and MW2′s .exe launcher. And extreme ammounts of players can no longer connect to IWNET to play online, and others can’t play more than one game online before it crashes on the next map load. The latter mostly when being the host. The community has not only spoken up instanly, but has created yet another uproar on their website. And Infinity Ward and Robert ”fourzerotwo” Bowling’s instant response? … Nothing.

So, in other words. Infinty Ward haven’t got it right. If the current trend continues, they won’t get it right either.

Now, why compare just these two developers? Well, that simple. They are the two developers who’s games I play on a regular basis. Great developers with great titles. Where one seems to have lost their touch completly… a true disappointment and a true shame.

Related links:

Splash Damage – www.splashdamage.com
Infinity Ward – www.infintyward.com