In a new interview, development veteran and Sledgehammer Games co-founder Michael Condrey (Dead Space, Call of Duty: WWII) has detailed how a decision on a development partner to handle the PC port of 2002\u2019s 007 Nightfire could have had huge ramifications on the actual existence of the Call of Duty franchise as we know it today. Condrey discussed the matter with writer Cade Onder during the production of a documentary the latter has produced on the making of 2011\u2019s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.<\/p>\n
Back around the early 2000s, Condrey spent eight years working at EA on a number of James Bond games \u2013 as a producer on The World Is Not Enough, Agent Under Fire, and Nightfire, and later in a development director role on Everything or Nothing and From Russia With Love. <\/p>\n
\u201cGoldenEye sits on this pedestal, as you know, right?\u201d Condrey began. \u201cArguably one of the greatest, most transcendent shooters on console. And so we were working on the sequel to that, The World Is Not Enough, and from there we continued to build out experiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually in the series order we were working on a title called Nightfire. We were looking for a PC developer. Now this would\u2019ve been 2001, 2002. We were shopping the game for PC developers who could come in and take our console game \u2013 we were focussed on consoles at that time \u2013 and deliver a PC version. And there were several interesting PC developers we talked to; one of them happened to be Vince [Zampella] and Jason [West].\u201d<\/p>\n
At this time, Zampella and West were part of Oklahoma-based developer 2015, Inc., the studio behind 2002\u2019s highly esteemed Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, published by EA. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey presented us 2015,\u201d said Condrey. \u201cThey were shopping for their next gig; they needed funding. They pitched to do [007 Nightfire] PC. I still have Vince\u2019s card, God rest his soul.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, EA ultimately partnered with Gearbox to handle the PC version of 007 Nightfire, which was received very poorly and went on to earn an unenviable reputation as an infamously terrible PC port. Despite the significant critical and commercial success of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, EA opted to bring the Medal of Honor franchise in-house and ended its relationship with 2015, Inc. Resultingly, a number of key personnel from 2015, Inc. \u2013 including Zampella and West \u2013 accepted a deal from Activision that led to the founding of Infinity Ward and the establishment of the Call of Duty series. Had 2015, Inc. been hired to take on the 007 Nightfire port at that time, Condrey is uncertain that things would have played out the same way.<\/p>\n
\u201c[2015, Inc.] wanted the game,\u201d he said. \u201cThey wanted the game, and we went with a different PC developer. And you want to talk about a weird multiverse\u2026 we met with them, walked through the process, did the due diligence; had we hired Vince and Jason and 2015 to do James Bond PC, who knows what? That\u2019s a weird moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
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