Activision’s recent release of a new bundle with the character of ‘The Replacer,’ who is a comedian named Nikki Glaser, in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Warzone, has not been very well received by the gaming community. If anything, it would be more accurate to say that the community response was more of a rejection than anything else. Through the usual communication channels, the announcement of the actress dressed in a military outfit as if already ready for battle was made, but instead of generating a buzz, the comments area got flooded with mixed feelings, fuming voices, and a lot of inquiries about the series’ future. It is another case of a game celebrity collaboration that has seen several of them, and now players start to feel that they are playing the less-fun, grittier, and still less-fun cousin of Fortnite.
What is the issue? The bundle is already in the virtual shop. The gamer can get the skin of Nikki Glaser as the operator, probably with some custom gear and one or two finishing moves, just like the standard bundle things. The main question that gamers are posing is about… why? Why Nikki Glaser? And why now? The responses to the tweet that announced the new bundle are showing clearly an isolated community that does not approve of the game’s direction with gaming players like Toonaami who said plainly, ‘No one asked for this.’ Another user going by the name of Jeli X_ was more direct: ‘This game is done.’ Ouch. That feeling was expressed more than once; for instance, Dawn_v2 added, ‘not gonna save the game tho.’ It looks like this bundle is seen more of a desperate or at least incorrect move to keep the game alive rather than a very nice addition to the game.
The negative responses controverted, however, brought negativity not solely toward Nikki Glaser as a person, though some comments may have been directed and pointed there. It’s merely part of a greater scope. Gamers are tired of what they consider ‘money-grabbing’ celebrity bundles cramming the multiplayer and Warzone lobbies. There is a very vocal group that wants back the more subdued, military-themed aesthetics of earlier Call of Duty games. User gon86097212 called it ‘Woke call of duty’ and blamed such decisions for the loss of players. Others, however, simply cannot wrap their head around that choice. User banmepls420 asked, ‘Genuinely why is this in the game? I’m not even bitching about it cause its “nOt MiL sIm”. But like how does she have anything to do with COD or the whole replacer advertisements.’ Good point! The ‘Replacer’ ad campaign has been an odd one indeed, and now throwing in a comedian just feels… random.
Then there is the whole Terry Crews issue. Really, it is amusing how many comments there are asking for a Terry Crews operator, which is a clear indication of what the players might really want. User djthebestgamer and djbestgamergod both posted memes of Terry Crews with the caption ‘Terry crews next in Call Of Duty please lmfao’. IiiCraighead has even suggested, ‘If they drop Terry Crews they will make all their money back that they lost on sales.’ There is a huge difference. Terry Crews embodies a certain larger-than-life, action-hero style that seems to fit the wild CoD atmosphere. On the other hand, Nikki Glaser, who is a stand-up comedian associated with roasts and dating shows, does not appeal to many gamers in the same way. It appears to be a mismatch.
Some players were searching for an explanation, like Jlacasey0486 who theorized it could be ‘to set up the new squid games coming out because she played the recruiter at the end of squid games.’ Would it be a cross-promotion thing? Perhaps. However, even if that is the case, it is not being taken in a good way. In fact, the discussion in the replies did reach a pretty weird point: at some point, the debate was about… the Bible? Yes, after user studio101010 made a comment regarding women always being ready to take male roles, animaltruster suggested them to ‘crack that Bible open again lil bro.’ Wait, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, Call of Duty. You see, discussions get everywhere.
Moreover, the negativity directed towards the game’s overall condition continues to run strongly beneath the surface. comments such as ‘They haven’t learned a damn thing’ from NAAconservative, who also called for cross-content to Black Ops 6, and ‘this is why this franchise is on its way down the toilet’ from CaptainChats, show that the issues that currently raised are not limited to one bundle reception but rather to a trend that the players perceive.
