The secret to Call of Duty’s mass popularity is due, in part, to how smoothly the game runs, according to Treyarch design director David Vonderhaar. Speaking to Eurogamer, the developer explained that running at 60 frames per second is an absolute necessity for the series.
“We think 60 frames is super essential,” he said. “Any time you have any kind of input latency at all, players can feel that. I’m pretty convinced Call of Duty is as popular as it is because of how fluid it can feel. You can feel the difference, and we go to a lot of trouble to try to keep the game running at 60 frames all the time.”
Vonderhaar’s comments came as part of a larger feature that looked at the frames-per-second debate between first-person shooter franchises Call of Duty and Battlefield. DICE executive producer Patrick Bach defended Battlefield’s console rate of 30 frames per second, saying, “In the end, everything is a compromise.”
“On console we have to make some compromises,” Bach said. “We love our vehicles and we love our destruction and we love the pretty graphics and the awesome sound. We think 30 is pretty decent. Some people complain because it’s a number, and you can compare numbers. And then there are a few people who complain because they say it’s a worse experience. That group has their needs and their urges, and then you have the other group that says, you know what? I’d rather have destruction, vehicles, graphics, audio because it’s fun. So, it’s a compromise.”
