Activision has finally conceded that last years entry to the series, Infinite Warfare, was not liked by fans, and thankfully we will be seeing Call of Duty return to its roots for this years iteration. Eric Hirschberg, the Chief Executive at Activision, admitted the space setting “didn’t resonate” with fans, which led to the official reveal trailer being the second most down voted video in the history of YouTube (right behind Justin Bieber), and a truly epic fall in sales over last years Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, the biggest entertainment launch of 2015. Even if you strip out the last generation sales of Black Ops 3, the game was still down over 43% on launch sales, and over 48% for overall sales…ouch.
That’s not to say the game was a complete fail, as it still managed to end the year as the top grossing game of 2016, beating the likes of the highly acclaimed Battlefield 1, however in comparison to the previous entry, and despite having Modern Warfare Remastered with some versions of the game to allure fans into buying, it tells you something isn’t right.
Now it’s time to return to the setting we love for Call of Duty, a solid boots on the ground shooter. Sledgehammer Games are taking the helm with this years title, which is due out at the end of the year. No more space, no more floating around in zero-G, and hopefully no more mechanised military suits or running along walls; if you want all that, pick up Titanfall 2, which does it a whole lot better.
It’s not to say Infinite Warfare was necessarily a bad game, it’s just not what the majority of players wanted. It did have a very good campaign, despite the unnecessary and annoying celebrity cameos (looking at you Lewis Hamilton), so it’s disappointing to think many players will have missed out on that, but Call of Duty is primarily about multiplayer nowadays, and it ventured further into territory that we’ve grown tired of, and territory it’s not the best at.
Hirshberg also commented on this years game, stating the project was green lit two years ago, as is the usual cycle for the series. This means the project, which is rumoured to be heading back to a historical setting, would not have been a knee-jerk reaction to the disappointment of Infinite Warfare, and the calls from fans begging for a game set during one of the great historical wars. Personally, I would love to see a trip into Vietnam, something I’ve waited for Battlefield to return to since they released the Vietnam DLC for Bad Company 2 all those years ago. Hopefully we might also see a Modern Warfare 2 Remaster with it this year, something I have wanted for a number of years now.
In the meantime, Activision is due to release new content for Black Ops 3, in order to help prop up its DLC sales for Infinite Warfare, which as you might have guessed, were lower than expected. Black Ops 3 continues to thrive, and whilst I think this is a bit of a cash grab to cover their own shortcomings, it’s not bad news if you’re still playing the game, and enjoy the content that comes with it.
What would Call of Duty need to do to tempt you to into this years game?
