14 DAY TRIAL // Robert Bowling, the chief creative strategist at Infinity Ward and now leader of his own development studio Robotoki, told Gamasutra that, “When I made the decision to resign from my previous position at Activision, I only knew one thing for certain. I knew what I didn't want to do, but that eventually led to clarity on what I did want to do.”
It seems that the developer was tired of always working on variations of the same mechanics and concepts and was eager to try out something new.
He added, “After each project, you sit back and you contemplate what you're passionate about and you have to make your next move based on that.
“Regardless if the rest of the world is ready to move on or not, if there are unique stories and experiences you want to deliver, then you have to follow your passion to deliver those. Nothing else can be a deciding factor when it comes to creative decision making.”
Bowling believes that creating his own development studio was the best solution to the problem of attracting the right talent and he also thinks that being self-funded and independent will allow his team to create innovative experiences.
Robotoki is planning to create an entire online universe for its first project, one that can be accessed on any platform and can be used for any video game genre.
Bowling says that the emphasis on creativity and innovation means that the team will create the universe it plans to explore first and will only then decide that kind of game it will create around it.
The developer has also suggested that the advent of crowd funding and quick feedback from the player base means that developers need to pay more attention to their fans and give them the tools they need to create their own experience.
Activision is currently working on a new Call of Duty title.