It seems that Activision’s popular shooter series Call of Duty will not be receiving the warmest reception when it releases later this year.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was announced earlier this week to tepid applause. Looking at the YouTube video for the latest reveal trailer, gamers are not to thrilled with the new game. It’s possible that franchise fatigue is setting in, as there has been a new Call of Duty game every year since 2007. Activision did announce that Infinite Warfare would be bundled with a remastered version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which is beloved by fans.
As of publishing, the video has more than 9.2 million views, with 204,258 likes and 475,900 dislikes. Many of the comments express dissatisfaction with where the series has been heading. Since its more realistic roots with Modern Warfare, the series has been getting steadily crazier, and is currently pursuing sci-fi-inspired technology themes. Another reason for the dislikes is the fact thatthe Modern Warfare re-master will not be sold separately, meaning that if gamers want to relive the glory of the 2007 hit, they’ll need to pay the Infinite Warfare ransom.
While the Call of Duty series does have its fair share of critics, the games tend to sell phenomenally well. But the number of dislikes this reveal trailer has received is not at all par for the course. Compared to previous reveal trailers, Infinite Warfare seems to really have struck a nerve, and not a good one. The last Call of Duty game, Black Ops III, sits at over 22 million views, with 394k likes to 79k dislikes. The one prior to that, Advanced Warfare, featuring Kevin Spacey, has over 30 million views with 222k likes to 50k dislikes.
Franchise fatigue is definitely real. Gamers may have grown tired of the relentless Call of Duty push this past decade. Other popular franchises like Assassin’s Creed have decided to stop the annual release schedule in hopes of creating some breathing room for consumers. If things go poorly for this iteration of Call of Duty, it will be interesting to see what Activision does to increase consumer confidence.
