14 DAY TRIAL // Dusty Welch, who was a senior vice president and the leader of publishing at Activision, has created a new games studio called U4iA Games, with the ultimate aim being to create a free-to-play and browser-powered FPS that will be more popular than the Call of Duty series.
Speaking about his new studio and his next project, Dusty Welch has stated, “I created Call Of Duty to dethrone the established leaders back in the early 2000s, and you bet my goal at U4iA is to repeat that success again. Providing a AAA, first person shooter experience in a browser is really what the end game is for us. And I think that’s going to help lead the new dynamic and a transition of gamers into the social.”
The developer believes that creating a free-to-play and browser-based first-person shooter will generate enough interest to eclipse the current rise of the MOBA genre, as exemplified by something like League of Legends, which currently has more engaged players than World of Warcraft.
Welch listed the advantages of the FPS, adding, “Much bigger genre, sticky proposition, e-sport competitive first person shooters are the hallmark of why so many gamers are playing on Xboxes and PlayStation 3s today, and we’re going to provide a whole unique way to experience that in a AAA free-to-play package.”
While the executive was working at Activision, he was praised as being one of the reasons for the success of franchises like the music based Guitar Hero and Call of Duty.
It’s not clear when U4iA launches its first game and the exact gameplay mechanics that it will use.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is on track to becoming the biggest selling video game of this year and it has already managed to become the biggest one-day seller across all entertainment genres.