8 Ways Infinite Warfare Is The Beginning Of The End For Call Of Duty
2. Infinity Ward Clearly Want To Make A Different Game
They can get out ahead of the negative buzz and comment about how the story is "inspired by war-stories, not sci-fi", but when you consider the sheer amount of design decisions being made that have now shaped what Infinite Warfare is, it would've benefitted the studio to simply do a different game altogether.
Returning to a mothership in between missions, focussing on fancy weapons impossible to craft in the real world and designing a universe that's just a touch away from introducing extra terrestrial life? They're all elements that scream "We're doing as much as we can... within the boundaries we're given."
Now, it is worth noting that the previous point holds true, and IW has most likely been in development since the close of Ghosts. Infinity Ward would be completely unaware of how all the futuristic stuff was going to be received, and now the time has come to unveil their latest efforts, it's all too late.
All I'm saying is, if we got a brand new sci-fi IP, "From the makers of Call of Duty", it would go down a storm, rather than have the franchise name and series' expectations forever dogging what they're trying to do.