In response to the growing disproval of the Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare trailer, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg addressed fans and investors in a hopeful statement.
The initial trailer was revealed earlier this week, and seemingly went against all of fans’ wishes. At the time of writing, the trailer has about 460,000 dislikes, over 100,000 more than it did during yesterday’s report.
Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg describes the outrage as passion: “First of all, you gotta love the passion of gamers. This is an industry like no other and a fan base like no other. We love that our fans treat this franchise like their own and have such strong points of view about it. There just aren’t many entertainment franchises on earth that can generate the kind of passion that Call of Duty can… and that’s a good thing.”
Hirshberg went on to contrast the boots-on-the-ground-style gameplay with the futuristic setting of Infinite Warfare, as well as other recent CODs. He explains that the divisive community is the reason the company is releasing Modern Warfare Remastered alongside Infinite Warfare.
“Secondly, of course, we know there are people in our community who are nostalgic for the boots on the ground-style gameplay; that’s why we made Modern Warfare Remastered. But we also have millions of people in our community who want to have new innovative experiences in the game each year and Infinite Warfare is going to deliver that.”
“The good news is this year we found a way to deliver both in one package while keeping our community together. While of course we see the passionate opinions on line, we also look at other measurements and the fact is — while it’s very early — pre-orders are off to a very strong start. Views of the reveal trailer… are up and, in fact, the number of likes per view on the Infinite Warfare trailer are the highest we’ve ever seen.”
Hirshberg went on to explain that this sort of reaction has occured in the past, most notably with the extremely successful Black Ops II.
The second installment in the Black Ops series had the most dislikes of any Activision reveal of its time. Hirshberg notes that, despite the negative reaction, Black Ops II “went on to become our most successful game ever.”
However, the likes on Black Ops II’s trailer vastly outweigh the dislikes, at a ratio of almost 3:1. At the time of writing, Infinite Warfare’s trailer sits at a like-to-dislike ratio of about 1:2.5. The CEO went onto make an example of the highly successful, very futuristic sequel to Black Ops II, Black Ops III.
“We have more people playing Black Ops III, a game that takes place in the future, with boost jumps and fictitious weapons, than any game in our history.”
While many fans may be rallying to show their disdain for 2016’s Call of Duty, it certainly displays the burning passion within the community, for better or worse. Hirshberg went on to defend Infinite Warfare by noting that the franchise was built on creative risks.
“What we know for sure is that if we always just did what worked in the past and never took any creative risks, we wouldn’t have a franchise. The day to worry is the day we stop trying new things.”
Fans certainly seem divided about Infinite Warfare. While many hate the direction Infinity Ward is taking the franchise, some are hopeful for the new and innovative features Infinite Warfare will offer. Whether you love it or hate it, the controversial game will debut on November 4, 2016 for PS4, Xbox One and PC.
