Though many have accused Activision and Infinity Ward of making a major cash grab with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, especially selling it alongside Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare rather than separately, there’s been plenty of risk involved as well. Thanks to Modern Warfare’s reputation, it took a lot of effort to get right according to Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg. That’s especially when you consider what past Collector’s and Special Editions have offered in terms of content.
Hirshberg told VentureBeat that, “It’s our biggest bonus content ever, our most valuable bonus content. We’ve had collector’s editions that have been creative and well-received. But this is taking the place of things in the past like night-vision goggles or GoPro cameras or Juggernaut refrigerators for your game room. This year we’re offering an entire remastered, beautiful version of one of the greatest games of all time.”
The three year development cycle for Call of Duty titles certainly benefited development as well. “Certainly we never would have been able to offer [Zombies] in the same collector’s edition SKU alongside Modern Warfare Remastered if we didn’t have that extra time to get this stuff right.
“Especially [with] something like Modern Warfare Remastered[,] you can’t do that lightly. It’s one of those games that’s sort of carved into Mount Rushmore. We have to sweat every pixel, and that’s what the team has done.”
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is out on November 4th. If you purchase the Digital Deluxe Edition or Legacy Pro Edition, you receive Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered for free (and can play the campaign early on PS4).