Activision pulls developers off future James Bond stealth shooter

14-May-2010 • Gaming

It was revealed today that Activision have pulled their development studio Raven Software off a future James Bond title in order to complete work on their upcoming "Call of Duty" release.

According to G4, with "Call of Duty" studio Infinity Ward recovering from a mass resignation of senior employees, Activision is looking for more developers to work on the franchise. Multiple sources familiar with the situation, all of whom chose to remain anonymous, told G4 that Activision has tasked Raven Software with making "Call of Duty: Black Ops".

There are at least two main development teams at the Madison, Wisconsin-based Raven Software. One team is currently finishing work on one of Activision's only new properties in 2010, "Singularity". G4 was told another team, whose last game was the "Wolfenstein" reboot from last summer, was in the early development and design phases of a stealth-centric James Bond game. That project is now on hold.

The James Bond/Wolfenstein team has been tasked to work on a series of map packs for the "Call of Duty" franchise.

Leading videogame insider blog Kotaku was also told that Raven has had its James Bond project put on hold. Raven's other future game, one based on the X-Men franchise and a follow-up to its work on X-Men: Origins Wolverine, is said to have been put on the backburner as well.

Launched within days of each other in November 2008, "Call of Duty: World At War" has shipped an estimated 12 million units since release, compared to just 3 million for "Quantum of Solace: The Game", clearly indicating the rationale behind Activision shifting their development resources away from 007 and on to a better selling brand.

Update: "Activision does not comment on rumor and speculation," said a company spokesperson to G4 regarding their report.