Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – Spec Ops Survival is “One Percent of the Game”

Infinity Ward finally revealed campaign gameplay for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare while also offering a sneak peek at the story. It was all fine and dandy until the developer announced that Spec Ops Survival was timed exclusive content for the PS4. For how long? Until October 1st 2020.

Obviously this didn’t go down well with fans, most especially those on Xbox One and PC. Narrative director Taylor Kurosaki addressed the timed exclusivity, reaffirming that the core Spec Ops mode along with every new piece of content was playable day one. He also noted that Survival was just “a sliver of Spec Ops.”

“There are decisions that are above all of our pay grades that have to be considered. I understand your feelings, but this is much better than others I have seen.” With regards to the game being ruined by such practices, Kurosaki said, “Let’s be honest, ‘ruining’ is an exaggeration. Survival is 1% of the game. The other 99% is simultaneous day and date across all platforms. I’d rather have everyone playing 99% of the content at the same time than 100% of the content some time later.”

Given that Activision has had a timed exclusivity deal with Sony for a number of properties, from DLC, betas and events in Call of Duty to content in Destiny 1 and 2, the decision is more or less out of Infinity Ward’s hands. We’ll have to wait and see how the backlash plays out. As it stands, the response behind the recent multiplayer beta was stellar and the developer has yet to detail how much content is in Spec Ops mode aside from Survival.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is out on October 25th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

You can play Spec Ops and every new bit of content we drop, day one. The only timed exclusivity is Survival, which is a sliver of Spec Ops.

— Taylor Kurosaki (@taylorkurosaki) September 24, 2019

Up to you, I respect your decision. We do our BEST every day to give our players the best experience possible. There are decisions that are above all of our pay grades that have to be considered. I understand your feelings, but this is much better than others I have seen.

— Taylor Kurosaki (@taylorkurosaki) September 24, 2019

https://twitter.com/taylorkurosaki/status/1176607731345608705