Modern Warfare has seen tremendous success since launch. It was the best-selling game of the year in 2019 despite only coming out in November. But not everything is perfect with the game. Infinity Ward has found themselves under fire since launch over bugs, community-hated changes, and poor communication from the developers. Well, Art Director Joel Emslie has been very active on Reddit in answering players’ questions and responding to feedback.
Communication is key
One of the biggest gripes with Modern Warfare and Infinity Ward is that fans do not feel heard on major issues with the game. At launch, developer Joe Cecot and senior communications manager Ashton Williams were very active on Twitter with fans of the game. But, over time, that communication lessened and fans began to grow upset with the lack of acknowledgment aimed at the game’s issues.
Joel stated on Reddit, “I do think and none of us would argue, that we need to find better ways to get the community information about the game. We are working on it and with anything this big theres always room for improvement.” He also commented on Ashton’s silence and why an art director was more active on Reddit than the communications manager. “In my opinion our community manager is doing a phenomenal job working to the best of her ability within some really really tough constraints.”
Joel doesn’t elaborate on these “constraints,” but one can imagine it has a lot to do with the way Infinity Ward is managing employee communication with players.
What can come from this
As Joel stated, it seems Infinity Ward is aware of their gap in communication with Modern Warfare fans and are working to fix the issue. There was some information revealed earlier in the year that Infinity Ward had invited a number of professional players to give direct feedback on the game in order to fix spawn issues.
While professional players can offer incredible feedback, though, it is important for Infinity Ward to consider the feedback of its casual players as well. Only time will tell us how Infinity Ward will approach this issue and make fans’ voices heard more prevalently.
