With three separate studios working on three different Call of Duty entries simultaneously, do the devs involved ever get together to share ideas? Or is everything super hush hush until it's revealed to the world?According to Mark Lamia, the studio head at Treyarch, the team behind Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, it's a lot more open than you might think.
"From very early on we'll share stuff on all side," he says in the latest issue of Official PlayStation Magazine. "In invited the other teams very early on in this development, as soon as I had what I considered a representative prototype. I shared it with the other studios, but it's up to them to come up with their own [creative ideas]."
With Black Ops 3 channeling Arnie's dystopian future with its Terminator-style robots, it's no surprise the studio wanted to share its ideas in order to avoid too much crossover. But did Treyarch ever get to to sample the equally futuristic Advanced Warfare while it was in development? "I actually saw Advanced Warfare levels... very early Campaign... I played multiplayer a little bit later, and it wasn't because anyone was holding back on us, it was just the timing when we played it."
Despite having access to the projects at both Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch is aiming to make its new entry the most progressive yet, with a bevy of new changes set to revitalise CoD's online multiplayer. But Lamia is quick to point out this open environment helps the studio see how its own instalment stands apart from the rest.
"It was interesting to see that they had maybe some movements like ours, but the systems and focus they had was different from ours," adds Lamia. "I think that's important inside the franchise to have some differentiation for the players so that they can get a different experience every year."
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is on the cover of the latest issue of OPM, out now. Pick up a copy here or subscribe to future issues.
