Treyarch unfazed by Infinity Ward troubles

If you’re sick of hearing about the fuss surrounding Infinity Ward’s fallout with Activision, spare a thought for the developers over at Treyarch. They’ve got to listen to it all too, and they have the added responsibility of making the next Call of Duty.

Infinity Ward’s relationship with Activision imploded spectacularly earlier this year when the mega publisher sacked Vince Zampella and Jason West – the creators of Modern Warfare.

But studio head Mark Lamia maintains that the recent kerfuffle has had no major effect on the forthcoming Black Ops.

At Activision’s showcase event this week, Lamia was asked if events at Infinity Ward has added to Treyarch’s responsibilities.

“No, in short, because I think we already had that [pressure],” replied lamia. “Long before anything that’s happened over there, our mindset was already at that level. The other reason I don’t think that is because Infinity Ward still exists, you know? There’s a team there and while they’ve undergone some change here, clearly, there’s still a lot of talented people there. They’re going to go on, and they’re going to do things.”

“Not once will my team get an email that’s like, ‘All this going on at Infinity Ward, now everything’s on you guys.’ It’s not about that, we’re putting it on ourselves.”

Lamia added that Treyarch has no fear for the hype that it is already building around the game. “It’s embraced, it’s welcomed,” he said.

Call of Duty: Black Ops will be released on November 9 on PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. Be sure to check out our hot off the press preview.