Robert Bowling, a prominent figure from the Call of Duty franchise, has announced the co-founding of a new game studio named //18.bravo. Bowling, known for his role at Infinity Ward where he served as the community face for the Modern Warfare games under the alias "fourzerotwo" until his departure in 2012, aims to establish a different model for game development and longevity.
The new studio is built on principles that tie leadership compensation to employee success, incorporates a royalty program for employees, and plans to share profits with external contributors such as voice actors and contractors. A key tenet of //18.bravo's philosophy is a commitment to not supporting live service models with its debut project. Instead, the studio is focusing on enabling what Bowling describes as "forever play."
This approach includes dedicated server support upon launch, augmented by an optimized peer-to-peer architecture. This P2P system is designed to allow players to continue enjoying the game together even if the company ceases operations. This strategy directly addresses growing concerns within the gaming community regarding the abrupt shutdown of online games when they are no longer financially viable for the developing company.
Furthermore, Bowling has made a significant commitment to open-sourcing the game's code, assets, and any other necessary components to facilitate community-driven extensions, with exceptions for third-party integrations and licensed music. Should //18.bravo face closure, all legal documentation and processes enabling this open-source transition will also be publicly released. This aims to make the model easily replicable for other developers looking to adopt a similar approach.
This declaration arrives at a time when consumer advocacy groups, such as "Stop Killing Games," are actively campaigning against the practice of shutting down online games. While such initiatives have had limited success, Bowling's proactive stance with //18.bravo offers a tangible alternative, aiming to prevent games from becoming inaccessible simply due to commercial decisions or project failure. The industry often sees games disappear when server support is withdrawn, leaving players with no recourse.