Report: Raven Software Had Two Projects Cancelled Including COD Zombies Live Service and Sequel to Classic Title

[Gamernyc78]

Report: Raven Software Had Two Projects Cancelled Including COD Zombies Live Service and Sequel to Classic Title

A former Raven Software developer has outed the studio was once working on a standalone live service Call of Duty Zombies game.

mp1st.com

Raven Software had some big plans to make their own Call of Duty game based on the Zombie mode created by Treyarch. Not only that, but it’s also been revealed that they were working on reviving a classic IP that was also canceled by Activision.

For the last decade, Raven Software has been a major support studio for Activision that assisted on and co-developed many of the recent Call of Duty games. However, it wasn’t always like this, as the studio did develop and release their own games prior to this shift, with a long history dating back to the ’90s. Yet despite that, for over ten years now, they’ve been working on Call of Duty games, though that’s not to say that they didn’t try to make their own game.

This is all according to former Raven Software Lead Designer Michael Gummelt’s LinkedIn profile, claiming that the studio was working on two titles.

The first is Call of Duty, though it would have been their own, similar to how Treyarch has Black Ops and Infinity Ward Ward has Modern Warfare. It was a spin-off of Treyarch’s own Zombie mode and was described as being a live service version. Sadly, Treyarch assumedly stepped in to cancel it as they wanted that portion of their IP back.

“Lead Designer on an ambitious new Call of Duty: Zombies live service project. Canceled when the ATVI studio that “owned” that part of the Call of Duty IP wanted it back.”

Furthermore, the studio attempted again to make a game under their name, though moving away from Call of Duty. This happened back in 2019, with the studio having prototypes for a revival of one of their classic IPs. That was canceled by Activision in favor of developing Warzone.

“Lead developer on a very small incubation team on two highly playable, well-developed prototypes as proof of concept for a revival of a classic Raven IP. As part of the Activision “Press Start” initiative, which ended soon after “Warzone” launched and was successful.”

There’s no word on what this classic IP would have been, though many speculate it was a new Hexen.

With Microsoft now owning the studio as part of the Activision-Blizzard King buyout, one has to wonder if Raven Software will take another crack at making a new game. One can hope.

 

[Gamernyc78]

My son loves Zombies and alot of other ppl, a zombie focused game would have made bank.

 

[Bryank75]

Doesn't sound like anything I'd play, so nothing lost for me.

They're back to being support?

 

[Evilnemesis8]

I really would like to by a fly on the wall for a second and see the production schedule sheet for all that is CoD. It must be a monstrous document filled with a gazillion lines and squares with a quadrillion different colour codes denoting the projects and milestones.

 

[Gamernyc78]

I really would like to by a fly on the wall for a second and see the production schedule sheet for all that is CoD. It must be a monstrous document filled with a gazillion lines and squares with a quadrillion different colour codes denoting the projects and milestones.

And bloated like a motherfucjer. The person/s job to ultimately refine the direction whewww I feel for them lol

 

[Batzy]

Treyarch are real petty. Can't let someone else make a better zombie cod game.

 

[Say1nMan]

Raven been stuck in purgatory hell as one of many COD support studio for years. Smh.