Activision exec: Speedy graphics are Call of Duty’s ‘secret sauce’

Activision-Blizzard is throwing a lot of weight behind its latest Modern Warfare 3 first-person shooter (FPS) game’s graphical prowess, which it’s using as one of the main selling points over competing FPS games.

“60 frames per second is part of Call of Duty’s secret sauce — it delivers the most approachable gameplay experience,” said Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg. “The game’s 60-frames-per-second engine delivers an incredible amount of precision and an incredible gaming experience.”

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is one of the most hotly anticipated titles of the year. The game runs speedily on home gaming consoles like the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, as VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi and I saw at the Electronic Entertainment Expo this year. It’s one of three projects Activision-Blizzard is betting heavily on — along with its Call of Duty Elite social network and the toy-enabled Skylanders game.

The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version of Modern Warfare 3’s biggest competitor, EA’s Battlefield 3, will be limited to 30 frames per second because of the amount of detail in the game and the number of moving objects on-screen. The games will only be rendered at 720p resolution instead of higher-definition 1080i and 1080p resolutions.

That might upset gamers and end up hurting the game when comparing it to competitors like Activision-Blizzard’s Modern Warfare 3. But Electronic Arts’ bid to unseat Call of Duty in the multibillion-dollar first-person shooter game business is still looking great. The graphics are more gritty and realistic than Modern Warfare 3’s Hollywood-style effects.

Call of Duty is one of Activision-Blizzard’s most popular titles. Its current title, Call of Duty: Black Ops, is the top-selling title in the United States and Europe. The company has sold more than 14 million units of Black Ops downloadable content packs, which puts it on the same level as a top-3 console title in the U.S. based on sales.