Infinity Ward Talks CoD: Ghosts

"Everybody thinks we're going to kill the dog. Maybe that's the expected thing we would do, so maybe it's not what we'll do? We'll see," said executive producer Mark Rubin.

Even with Infinity Ward releasing no information that would suggest one way or the other, it is clear by now that Riley the dog will die during the Call of Duty: Ghosts campaign.

"Maybe that's the expected thing we would do, so maybe it's not what we'll do? We'll see. People around here didn't know, and they had that same sentiment: 'We better not kill the dog.' The emotional investment for the dog here has been just as strong as what's happening out in the public."

Infinity Ward's community manager Tina Palacios said that "it's a constant debate" at the studio about whether Riley will die or not. "But we do have an answer,"  she continued.
 
Infinity Ward revealed that a German Shepherd named Ruger and a Belgian Malinois called Rico, were used to capture Riley's motion-capture performance. Rico was performing the biting and tackling actions, while Ruger provided Riley with general movements.

According to Ruger's trainer Chris Connell, one of the biggest challenges during the motion-capture sessions was getting the dogs to perform as they were in a real combat scenario.

"In this environment, we didn't have trees or grass," Connell said. "It was like, 'OK, Ruger. Pretend we're in a desert area and act accordingly.' Ruger is like, 'Dude, this is a studio with mats like people do exercises on at the gym, and there's white lines on the ground.' Just trying to get him to act as if it was a real environment was the hardest thing."