The gaming industry and Hollywood has been becoming increasingly fond of each other over the years, but one simply needs to look at a handful of film adaptations of renowned video game franchises to know that merging the two has hardly proven to
be a very wise decision.
Ubisoft gave it a shot a few years back by handing over the Prince of Persia brand in the capable hands of film industry veteran Disney, but the only thing that the fans of the franchise ended up coming across in cinema was disappointment.
Other popular brands took a trip to Hollywood as well, only to find themselves booed at by the very fans that had contributed heavily to their popularity and blockbuster status.
While Ubisoft does not seem to have learnt its lesson, or rather it is stubbornly trying to prove that it is very much capable of beating the odds and delivering a movie experience based on a video game that is not garbage, other publishers have become somewhat
cautious.
Activision, in particular, seems to be convinced that sending a video game franchise to Hollywood is equivalent to ruining the brand’s reputation, a risk that it is not willing to take with its Call of Duty franchise.
In a profile for the New York Times, the publisher’s CEO Bobby Kotick revealed that a number of film studios have approached him, showing genuine interest in making a film adaptation of the critically and commercially acclaimed first-person shooter.
However, the Activision boss rejected all these offers and will continue to reject such offers in the future as well as he has too much love for the brand to hurt its reputation.
He explained that the motion pictures based on video game franchises have hardly been able to please the devoted fans and have in fact come off as a huge disappointment.
Activision cares too much for its fans to disappoint them and finds a lot of risks associated with bringing Call of Duty to the silver screen.
The determination to maintain the reputation of the brand and commitment to please its devoted fans is two of the primary reasons for the company to say no to a Call of Duty film.
While Activision’s commitment to protecting the reputation of the Call of Duty brand hardly comes off as a surprise, with the latter contributing heavily to the company’s excellent balance sheets, it is interesting to note that the franchise does not have
the best of reputations within the very industry that it belongs to.
A lot of journalists, analysts and gamers blame Activision and the Call of Duty series for the lack of innovation in the video game industry, something that has put its very future under grave threat.
With the smartphones and tablets showcasing an immense amount of innovation, the gaming industry finds itself far behind. The developers are not encouraged to take risks and are expected to deliver an experience that has already proven to be successful in
the market.
While this particular formula is working out in favour of companies such as Activision, Electronic Arts (EA) and even Ubisoft to an extent, many analysts are of the opinion that such companies will soon run out of luck and will cause the whole industry to
pay a heavy price for their greed for profits.
It remains to be seen if Activision’s obsession with the Call of Duty franchise is limited to safeguarding its reputation, or if the company would actually make an effort to save the industry.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely of the writer’s and do not reflect bettor.com’s official editorial policy.
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