Activision has really shaken up things in the Call of Duty community with their recent announcement. They have decided not to release back-to-back games from the Modern Warfare or Black Ops series anymore. They justified this extreme decision with the aim of “guaranteeing an absolutely unique experience every year.” They attributed the decision to “many” reasons, but the main one would be the uniqueness. Less than convincing.
If I were to state it differently, for anyone who has played COD for a long time, this is like a huge bomb. The pattern of releases had become pretty clear. You could count on Modern Warfare first, and then maybe Black Ops, then some others, but usually, the major divisions would not be far from each other. The situation is changing now as they are going to put an end to this particular cycle. But this should not be taken to mean the cessation of yearly Call of Duty; rather, it implies there will not be a Modern Warfare 2024 followed by Black Ops 2025. They will be keeping such mega franchises apart.
What has been the public’s reaction to this news? Online players definitely are not treating it as a positive event. The sarcasm and disbelief are in many if not most of the quotes and retweets. One player, Tai, articulated the confusion that many share: “So they just don’t release two titles of either Black Ops or MW but still produce one COD every year. What is the real difference then?” And honestly, It is quite a valid point. If a new title is still being released every autumn, only that now it is from a different branch of the COD family tree each time, then is it really that big a change?
Another point is that of being worn out. So worn out with. A user with the moniker Niemand remarked the fatigue feeling, “The fatigue is catching up lol,” and you can sense that the comment has the same meaning as the feeling of the majority of others. Another one, Psymon, was rather blunt: “Cod is officially dead.” That hurts! But it is a feeling shared by many. The idea that the franchise has been over-delivering and some call it ‘slop’, and that this move is just changing deck chairs on the Titanic.
Some gamers are contemplating the ‘many reasons’ even more. The Friendly Neighborhood Ancap came up with a… vibrant portrayal: “Let me summarize it for you in two points: 1. Battlefield 6 handed your sorry asses. 2. Everyone is sick and tired of your zoomer-infested slop.” The vocabulary might be rough, but in general, they are saying, like others do, that, competition and customer dissatisfaction are the main reasons that create pressures on Activision’s decision. By the way, M is quoted as saying, “I thought they were ‘too big to fail’. What happened?”
And, naturally, the trust issue is indeed of gigantic proportions. “They will definitely never tell a lie,” the ironic observer Shugosha said, perfectly dripping with sarcasm. Max Navarrette simply quoted a very common saying, “Like I haven’t heard that before.” There is a very strong feeling of “we’ve seen this movie before.” They even referred to history: “Didn’t we hear this when Modern Warfare 2 came out? They said that they would make MW a two-year threat just for us to get $70 DLC and call it MW3?” Ouch. It’s tough to keep promises sincere when the community recalls so much history.
Some have been looking at the downside from a practical currency point of view. PetiePal expressed the position that a lot of rational people would have: “I would be fine with a new COD every 2-3 years.” But that is not the deal being offered here. It’s still going to be yearly. PaperFace made this argument too: “They could also just skip a year without a release. Every year even with the studio rotation it just becomes more and more slop.” The basic concern is not just about the order of sub-series, but more about the rigid, annual pace that many think is the major reason for the decline in quality.
Then comes the question of what this really means for the games. Ross put a critical question that no one doubts gamers who really take to multiplayer will feel: “If a new multiplayer is released but it still feels like the previous one and the campaign is still going on then nothing will change. Besides, do not ignore multiplayer wars because it is not the only thing that people play”. His position was also supported by Blaine, who mentioned not neglecting core multiplayer experience. If ‘unique experience’ is interpreted as just different skin on the same mechanics, then will anybody care?
And ShyRaven raised a negative and yet not uncommon fear about monetization: “This means they will implement even more MTX-related content since they would want to make even more money from Call of Duty Mobile and other platforms like PlayStation and Xbox.”
