When Robert Bowling revealed that he would be stepping down from his role as Creative Strategist at Infinity Ward and leaving Activision, the question that jumped immediately to gamers’ minds was what might be next. While the assumption was that Bowling wasn’t done with video game development, there were so many possibilities as to what type of situation he might land in.
Just today we have learned exactly what Bowling plans to do with his newly found free time, and that is to give it all up. Bowling plans to bankroll his assuredly lucrative Call of Duty salary into funding a new game development studio called Robotoki.
Talking with Game Informer, Bowling revealed that he plans to make Robotoki a ‘people first’ development studio that favors fostering talent over churning out product. Bowling feels that the industry, as it continues to grow, has become too business-focused and is “falling severely behind in how to properly inspire and support our creative talent.”
Through self-funding, Bowling wants to ensure that Robotoki retains creative control over the products it puts out, the complete opposite of the type of deals previous employer Activision worked out with its studios. There’s no firm word on what type of game Robotoki is working on at the moment, but it is believed to be getting an official announcement later this year and is headed to all major platforms including iOS and Android devices.
The immediate question to ask about the project is how closely it might resemble Call of Duty? According to Bowling this new project won’t closely resemble the juggernaut franchise, but will be a natural evolution of it.
“Our focus is creating an experience that is no longer strictly single player, strictly co-op, or strictly multiplayer, but adapting the strengths of each of these into a unique experience that is fueled by the actions and contributions in each.”
the second this project starts taking off that Bowling will be out there doing what he does best, and gamers will be made well aware of the unique features this project has to offer. And, if there are any game developers out there looking for a job Robotoki is hiring!
Are you intrigued by the prospect of Robert Bowling opening up his own studio? What type of game do you think Robotoki should be working on?
Source: Game Informer
Kevin Conroy WILL Return For ‘Batman: Arkham Origins’ 
PlayStation 4 Slogan Revealed; Next-Gen Xbox Name Possibly Confirmed 
‘Batman: Arkham Origins’ Official Story Trailer: Deadshot, Explosions, Easter Eggs, & More! 
Lionhead Job Listings Hint at ‘Fable 4′ ‘Reimagining’ the Franchise 
Loading ...
I would’ve been him I probably would’ve retired from gaming all together. With all the cheese he got it wouldn’t be hard to make such a decision. Judging by his comment he must’ve gotten tired of Activisions business practices, He grew a heart it seems…
I probably would’ve written a book instead. Consider it an insiders look at the Biggest franchise in modern history from the man who helped make it…
When even the head developers are realizing what is happening to gaming and leaving huge companies over it…
You KNOW something has gone terribly wrong.
Especially where the CoD series is concerned. *shudder*
Even with Battlefield 3… The last patch has destroyed a good share of the gameplay for me. (SO pissed about that, too. I had awesome stats. Waiting for the next patch before I play again. It’s a total disaster.)
Makes me sick.
I thought I was the only one, the patch just made things feel… differet.. can’t pinpoint it exactly.
Nah… Head out online and you can find plenty of folks saying the same thing post-patch.
It was pure CRAP.
I won’t get into detail… But everyone (including Alan Kertz) has recognized that they went WAYYY too far with suppression.
It just feels different.
There is an additional problem for me, though. My system started dropping frames in the game IMMEDIATELY following the patch. It happens whenever a firefight breaks out, etc.
I have had no other issues with any other games. Tested all of the last 4 driver revisions, etc. Still runs like crap.
Whatever they did in that last patch… It really screwed with things. They’re claiming they’re going to rebalance things in the next patch.
But DICE has this horrible habit of making things worse with each patch… (Much as it pains me to say it.)
We shall see.
*different.
Just realized I can’t spell.
Oh good lord..
What? LOL!
If he really means what he says it seems like he’s trying to follow in Valve’s footsteps in catering to fans instead of just making money.
I applaud Bowling for acknowledging the cheap, money-grubbing ways of Activision. I’m glad he left and is forming a new studio. But my hopes aren’t high for the game Robotoki is working on, becausing it sounds like it will be another FPS. I just hope it won’t be anything like COD.
Probably will resemble CoD because that’s all he knows. And I’m also worried because he is promising the same thing he didn’t do at I.F. and activision.
That’s true. Well at least Robotoki will have creative control over its games.
This is happening everywhere! Peter Monyleux (not sure about his last name), Respawn Ent., Robotoki!
Even in music. Artists and devs leave major publishers because of creative restraints and unfavorable business practices. That says a lot.
Big companies are greedy and don’t care about consumers. That’s what that says.
Well, COD
Ah crap, I accidently pressed the submit before I could finish. Anyway COD is going to have alot of pressure on it’s shoulders with people leaving.
Yea I can’t wait to see their numbers on this year’s COD.
Yeah, maybe then people will open their eyes , the game might not sell very well, then maybe they’ll understand why people are turning away and finally create something new and better. I’m scratching my head and waiting to see what happens.
Make something first. I’m tired of all the carny marketing talk. Everyone nowadays is just saying what they think everyone wants to hear. You know, like they always have.
I completely agree.
Yeah, I remember this idiot bad mouthing nearly everyone before quitting Activision. I hope Darwinism does its job before this retard makes a game (or maybe someone more competent having a brain replaces him, sadly unlikely).
He’s not going to get replaced. It’s his own company.
I know, hence the unlikely. I just hope people don’t fall for the crap he spouts and he gets shut down fast. Idiots like him are spoiling the industry.
It’s not unlikely, it’s just not going to happen. You have to give him a chance at least. You can criticize him like that after Robotoki releases its first game.
Or you can criticize him for the sh*t he’s already done.
You can do that, but you can’t criticize him for what he’s going to do because we have virtually no information on what Robotoki’s first game is going to be about. Yuri can’t say Bowling is spoiling the industry when he hasn’t even made a game yet. He was the Creative Strategist for Infinity Ward, not a designer.
I agree with Matt.
Seems to me that Yuri is lying…to be honest. He made a statement, without thinking, that implies that Mr. Bowling could be replaced within his own company.
He was called out on this statement by Matt who advised, “He’s not going to get replaced. It’s his own company.”
That statement is obviously TRUE and he was right to do so.
Yuri then tried to stealthily retract the implication of his words after realizing the truth of this statement. He attempted to do so by citing his insertion of “sadly unlikely”.
I call “BS” on Yuri’s part for two reasons:
1.) He implied that hoping Mr. Bowling would be ousted from his position was practical when it is, as Matt said, quite impossible. (Unless he hands the company over to someone else, of course.)
2.) It is not “sadly unlikely”. Again, as Matt said, It is ‘firmly impossible’.
Yuri… There is no “hence the unlikely” here. You meant what you said until someone corrected you – at which point you backpedaled. I know BS when I see it.
That said… Having established your character; I reinforce and emphasize Matt’s opinion by saying that you’re ignorant to just judge this guy like that. Just because he was [heavily] involved with CoD’s development as a franchise during the Modern Warfare years does not mean that he might not have other creativity that he has yet to expose.
Sure… He was one of the driving forces behind a franchise that most have come to despise over the years. Sure he was associated with a money-grubbing giant of a published that has been hated for YEARS by many.
Hell… I MYSELF absolutely DETEST CoD as well as Infinity Ward/Activision/Treyarch. But I’m not so ignorant as to be unable to separate the person from the company.
Have you seen this guy’s work outside of that environment? Have you seen anything that he’s done outside of that whole mess of an empire?
If not then you have ZERO reason to judge him. His name is not important in the long run. He is just another person starting a new company that will be creating content that many may find enjoyable.
Quite frankly, your opinion is invalid. At this point, ANY opinion is invalid until we have some way of judging his talent. That time will only come when he eventually makes some kind of product for us to try out.
Not a second before.
Be silent.
He is/did spoil the industry because he helped CoD build their empire (which they don’t deserve) by lying and hyping CoD up to an ungodly title. There’s no reason for him to change now.
He is/did spoil the industry because he helped CoD build their empire (which they don’t deserve) by lying and hyping CoD up to an ungodly title. There’s no reason for him to change now. Also like I said in an earlier post, CoD is all he knows so its most likely going to fail if trys to make something “new” or its going to be a CoD copy.
Did he not jump ship and start his own company?
What reason would he have had to NOT do so?
Clearly he found SOME reason to change…and that reason is his OWN. Does it NOT occur to you that he WANTS to escape that stigma that he has been cursed with revolving around CoD? Not even for a second?
Who are YOU to question his motivations? What reason could you possibly have to judge him? What rationale will you use to try and explain away all of this when you have yet to be GIVEN any kind of reason?
No one knows what he’s planning. He has made no announcements of any dev projects. You have no clue what he intends and you surely don’t know him or of his personal interests.
Like Yuri, you are ignorant in voicing your opinion when it is based squarely on nothing more than previous associations and unknown variables.
It’s people like Yuri and yourself that cause other people who want to ‘strike out on their own’ to be forced to evaluate the risk of doing so.
Ignorant? No maybe arrogant. But its my opinion based on fact. The only ignorance I see is not being skeptical about him running his OWN studio when coming right off of a crap super power studio and nit to mention he is promising the same thing he didn’t do at I.F. Him leaving is because he had a b*tch fit. I can only judge off of his actions and if he made GOOD actions I would not rag on him but sadly that is not the case. Although I do see your point of view, you might wanna take a look at mine.
But you can’t simply go out and say it’s going to be a failure, when we have no idea what he plans on doing. Thats like saying Respawn’s project will fail because they worked with CoD for so many years.
They actually made good games and didn’t ruin the face of FPS gaming but Bowling was apart of the bad side of I.F.
Sure, Bowling worked for Infinity Ward. Sure, he hyped up the Modern Warfare series. But did he actively participate in the creation of the games? No. Bowling’s sole job was to hype up the games, and he took no part in making them. At Robotoki, he’s the founder. He will have much more say in the creation of Robotoki’s games. If he knows how to actually design any of it, who knows? But he will at least “manage” Robotoki’s games, something he didn’t do for the Modern Warfare series. So how can you judge his company’s first game, and Robotoki and Bowling himself, when you don’t know anything about the game, Robotoki, or Bowling’s talent outside of marketing? You can’t.
“Talking with Game Informer, Bowling revealed that he plans to make Robotoki a ‘people first’ development studio that favors fostering talent over churning out product. Bowling feels that the industry, as it continues to grow, has become too business-focused and is “falling severely behind in how to properly inspire and support our creative talent.”” That paragraph right there further disproves what you say. Bowling knows what his employer was all about, and he wants his own company to be different. And judging by his beliefs, it will be. So I expect no copy/paste games from Robotoki and more response to fans. Bowling didn’t share the same values as his employer, but his new company will be based on his values. So don’t go dissing someone’s talents when you aren’t even aware of them.
P.S. It’s not like Bowling is the only person that’s going to be working on Robotoki’s games. He’s going to hire people for all of the necessary positions, so there will be plenty of people that will be shaping the game, not just Bowling.
Yes. ABSOLUTELY ignorant. (Arrogant is just a by-product of it.)
I would love to hear what “fact” you think you can compile when he hasn’t even made an announcement of any project yet…let alone finish and release one. You’re putting the cart (your opinion) before the horse (his as-of-yet unannounced works).
You have NO DATA to form any kind of legitimate or valid opinion on. PERIOD. (I simply can not conceive how this does not register with you.) The ONLY data you have on Mr. Bowling is the work he has done for and with IW/Activision.
The work he did for them should not be viewed as a precursor of the work he will do independent of them. As a matter of fact; one would imagine that he is very likely to go out of his way to avoid any projects that would have any major similarities to his previous work BECAUSE he’s probably aware that there are fools (…) who are ALREADY making the kind of accusations YOU are.
Your “opinions” are based on a little thing that the intelligent among us refer to as “bias”…and it’s generally a BAD thing.
Your point of view is based on anything BUT fact. It is based on nothing but bias and conjecture.
Therefore… Being as your “opinions” are based on a complete lack of substance or fact of ANY kind… Your opinion is literally INVALID.
Notice that I myself have no opinion. I simply allow for the possibility that things could go either way. He could screw up and piss everyone off…or he could surprise everyone and redeem himself with something original and/or awesome.
We simply have no way of knowing one way or the other…and NEITHER DO YOU.
You’re fighting a losing argument here. (You lost before you started.) What you call “opinion” is, in fact, misconception covered with “the right to have an opinion”.
Nothing more.
How can an opinion be invalid if its merely an opinion. And how can I judge something he hasn’t even done yet? I’m judging on what he’s already done. Yes he may not of made the game but he still cintributed. His job is hyping the game which results in billion dollars sales in which they don’t deserve and.makes people believe quantris quality which its NOT. I’m saying that CoD is the only thing he has been around (while still being made) so it most likely resemble it a lot which isn’t good. And why I say this is because almost every FPS is following their half-assed foot steps so why shouldn’t he? Especially when he is going to need sales and he saw how many sales I.F. got. Now are you going to tell me tgats not fact? And for the record I said MOST LIKELY so there is still a chance it might not happen but chances are it will.
You may not be judging something he hasn’t done yet, but you are judging his actions and making the ludicrous assumption that Robotoki’s first game will be terrible. You have no credible basis for that argument. How can you say chances are that his first game will resemble Infinity Ward’s game? Once again, you have no credible basis for that argument. If you read the article, you know that he doesn’t like what Infinity Ward was doing, which is probably one reason why he left. So he wants to make his games DIFFERENT. It doesn’t matter that he’s only been around CoD. Are you saying that if anybody who has only worked for Infinity Ward or Treyarch left to start their own game company, that their game would resemble CoD? That’s what it sounds like to me. Maybe Bowling’s first game will be a FPS, but I bet you that it will be very different from any of Infinity Ward’s games.
I agree, I’m not going to express my opinion until I see something from them.