For many years, the “Call of Duty” and “Battlefield” franchises have been going toe-to-toe for the top spot in video game sales. While both share many similarities, they also share many differences. They’re both first-person military action shooter games but are played out in two different formats. While “Call of Duty” offers more of a close quarter run-and-gun environment, “Battlefield” is larger scale, taking place on big open battlefields creating for an extra sense of realism.
Just recently, as of May 2, Activision/Infinity Ward unveiled their first official trailer for “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.” Initially, the reactions were mixed between people who liked the new futuristic setting of the game and people who disliked it. But now the ratings have plummeted immensely with thousands upon thousands of dislikes daily on the YouTube video. This is all thanks to the unveiling of “Battlefield 1” by EA/DICE on May 6, as the companies went back in time and created a World War 1 setting for their new installment. As of this writing, the official trailer for “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare” has reached 1.9 million dislikes, currently making it the fourth most disliked video on YouTube.
So how did this happen? There are multiple reasons. Some are tired of the consistency of Sci-Fi video games these days, some are tired with the decisions of Infinity Ward developers, and others just hate “Call of Duty” all together. What’s fascinating is the amount of backlash that Infinity Ward has been receiving for this trailer.
Typically, videos get disliked when there’s content within the video that is either offensive or just plain awful (anyone remember Rebecca Black’s “Friday” song?). The official trailer for “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare” does not contain offensive material nor anything that looks bad; it’s just receiving dislikes out of pure spite from passionate fans and haters alike.
What makes this more interesting is that this backlash really didn’t start exploding until the “Battlefield 1” trailer dropped. Not many people realize, but the scales were pretty even between likes and dislikes on the “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare” trailer before EA/DICE dropped their trailer. As I mentioned in a previous article before, high rewards await those who take risks. EA/DICE, rather than taking the safe route and making another “Battlefield” game in the Modern era or Futuristic era, they decided to take a gamble on cashing in on the World War 1 era. Well as it turns out, that decision may pay off as gamers around all gaming communities gather to praise “Battlefield 1” in what they believe will be the next great shooter game.
It is saddening to see the “Call of Duty” trailer receive so many dislikes as I’m sure the Infinity Ward developers are putting their hearts and souls into making this game. But it should also serve as a warning to other game developers and Infinity Ward themselves. When you don’t listen to your fans, they will take their money elsewhere and perhaps even shun your products. I believe this lesson holds true for just about anyone with a service to offer. Although anything can change between now and the release date for “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare," the future is looking grim for this game. We shall see what "Infinity Ward" does to combat this backlash.
