r/TwoBestFriendsPlay • u/davidreding • 1d ago
News/Articles Activision executive is not happy with CoD coverage, believes there’s a “COD tax” in media about it.
He more or less thinks that the media doesnt consider the work that goes into the games or how big the audience is since its more or less status quo now. Mat piscaleta of Circana noted that black ops 7 had about 21% of all players say they intended to get it compared to 15% of MW4 this year.
Idk personally I think he’s just making excuses for why CoD sales are actually going down somewhat. Last year it was game pass, now its the media, guaranteed its GTA6 next year. Microsoft spent too much money on those acquisitions and they don’t know how to get their money back.
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u/LifeIsCrap101 Banished to the Shame Car 1d ago
Here's an idea... maybe make a good game instead of trying to slop it up and milk every dime out of players instead.
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u/GhostOfGhosthand373 Local John Call of Duty, refuses to let go [PAIN] 1d ago
I don't think even a good game will cut it anymore, there's a genuine exaustion with the series as a whole, the base framework and everything surrounding it can only last so much, even with a new subfranchise (which's rumored to be Sledgehammer's next year game) gonna at best aleviate said exaustion. It reached a genuine breaking point were they should really consider transitioning to a new thing if they want some longevity.
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u/Kii_at_work Gravity Hobo 1d ago
there's a genuine exaustion with the series as a whole
For anyone curious, there's currently 23 CoD mainline titles. Count in spinoffs and re-releases and the like and you're at over 50. In the span of 23 years. Yeah you would fucking exhaust people over that span.
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u/ShutUpAboutCanon 1d ago
They also glamourise the US military mindset in a way that is becoming less and less of a fun fantasy for many people
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u/Impossible-Sweet2151 I'm not against the sniper rifle abortion but... 1d ago edited 1d ago
I remember arguing about it when I was a young. My friends acted like I was crazy. WHO'S LAUGHING NOW? Well actually I'm not, something you don't want to be right.
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u/YandereLobster (She/Her) EARTH SAVED GOOD WE DO IT 1d ago
It's funny (but not actually funny) because I think the og CoD4 was a really good military deconstruction, that didn't feel like US propaganda at all. That whole games plot is about how the marines charge in gun-ho shouting and busting through on bad info, get completely wiped out for no gain what-so-ever, and die unglamorous deaths. Meanwhile the SAS takes out the actual threat, but still all die mostly unceremoniously (until MW2 you could argue it was a full wipe, there was no reason to think Price or Soap were alive).
It's just afterwards (even as early as MW2, even if I love it) that it started to just play it straight and make the military look fucking awesome. Though, I'd argue even the Black ops "'merica fuck yeah" ending felt semi-sarcastic, considering it immediately implies that it wasn't actually a victory at all.
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u/CraftD 1d ago
Eh, you’re describing the games having a “the military doesn’t care about its soldiers and the romanticization is just propaganda” cynicism to them. Which: fair, to their credit.
But I think the comment chain above is getting at the point that in 2026 folks are less preoccupied by cynicism about the treatment of soldiers and more by the cynicism that the United States military is a bit more mask-off about the whole force of evil thing. Y’know, what with the constant military takeover threats against the country this subreddit’s focus is based out of, and everything.
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u/Impossible-Sweet2151 I'm not against the sniper rifle abortion but... 1d ago
I still think think MW1 can be criticized for having a middle-eastern villain armed with weapons of mass destruction who's totally not Sadam Hussein.
As for Black Ops, I agree the Treyarch games have always felt a bit more tongue and cheeks and when they aren't, they're willing to make violence ugly whick keep things a bit more grounded.
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u/keep_rap_homely 1d ago
Sorry I know it's low-hanging fruit but "tongue and cheeks" is fucking hilarious
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u/Gunblazer42 Local Creepy Furry | Tails Fanboy 1d ago
There's some betrayal over it too. Black Ops 6 was supposed to be a standout experience compared to the rest of the CoDs, and then it was for a few months, and then they dropped the ball real hard, particularly after they started replacing Zombie Mode VAs and added even more AI to the game and got lazy with it.
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u/zekrom42 At least those babies were good bombs to throw at enemies. 1d ago
Preposterous, think of the shareholders! /S
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u/LifeIsCrap101 Banished to the Shame Car 1d ago edited 1d ago
"Good game cost money. Slop basically free. Make slop."
"What do you mean slop make no money? Fire everyone for bad job. Me good boss."
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u/mythrilcrafter It's Fiiiiiiiine. 1d ago
And here's the real kicker, all of the "shareholders" are just probably day traders at Blackrock and Citadel Capital, and maybe a couple Saudi princes. They probably don't even notice because they're hopping to make their money by selling off a million shares off a 1% jump in the stock price, not on actual old-school performance fundamentals.
If the shareholders were real people who pay attention to the happenings at the company, they'd react with "You spent how much to only make barely above break even? And you expect us to believe that you aren't the problem here?"
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u/mythrilcrafter It's Fiiiiiiiine. 1d ago
Let's be real here, Activision has so much money and resources, that if they tried to be smart with those resources (not even spend more), they could easily have a good game that is also filled with nickel and dime mechanics.
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u/Impossible-Sweet2151 I'm not against the sniper rifle abortion but... 1d ago
That's the main problem with the game industry right now isn't it? Execs think they can solve any problem by throwing money at them.
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u/SilverKry 1d ago
I thought BO6s campaign was good. But then again I only played it because of Gamepass and hadn't played a Call of Duty in the time between Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 6.
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u/ramonzer0 It's Fiiiiiiiine. 1d ago
As a relatively lapsed fan that got into new MW2, BO6 and then BO7, I can say that COD's moment to moment gameplay feels tight and great, but NGL a lot of it does just feel like aimless gunplay now which I can likewise feel just chipping away at my psyche when I get more of a high from more purposeful games (to put it one way)
Like I'll appreciate class systems with different roles to fulfill or objectives to complete that are present in say Battlefield, Siege or Overwatch
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u/SilverKry 1d ago
I did play the first mission of BO7 when it came out. Thought it felt like shit tho so I just quit and uninstalled.
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u/Blast-Bang WHEN'S MAHVEL 1d ago
I defiantly think COD has reach it's limits there can't be infinity growth forever especially with how milked this series is.
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u/Totally_a_boy "Give daddy some sugar." - Batman (2015) 1d ago
I know it's mostly a gag term, but the concept of infinite growth is so utterly absurd.
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u/Regalingual Bigger than you'd think 1d ago
You know what else just grows and grows and grows until it very suddenly can’t?
Cancer.
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u/Totally_a_boy "Give daddy some sugar." - Batman (2015) 1d ago
Careful not to ignite your keyboard, cause that that's fire!
I'm using that.
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u/PanseloNomad 1d ago
It may be absurd, but enough people believe it that people who probably don't have to pretend they do else investments aren't happening for them.
Damn thing is a feedback loop of greed and stupidity.
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u/Diem-Robo I'm aging rapidly 1d ago
On top of that, the issue is that the annual release model is outdated for anything that isn't officially licensed sports games, and it's no longer working for them. Vanguard, MW3, and BO7 were all (relative) flops, and the series would've been better served just not having a new release that year, but they forced it and damaged the brand as a result. The games in-between those were great, and MW4 looks like it's shaping up to be a hit, which makes it all the more questionable.
Meanwhile, most other shooters are full live service models with one release, if not F2P, rather than asking for $70 each year on top of the battle passes and other microtransactions. Newer audiences are more receptive to the former than the latter, unless the game is actually worth it, which it hasn't been every other year for the past 5 years.
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u/BruiserBroly 1d ago edited 1d ago
A break would do the series good. Call of Duty fans never really had the opportunity to miss it and build anticipation for a new game like fans of every other major gaming franchise do.
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u/mythrilcrafter It's Fiiiiiiiine. 1d ago
At least with Battlefield, there's enough layers of separation because of both the 3~4 year release cycle AND the fact that there were a lot of players who just stuck to 3/4 because they weren't interested in WW1 or WW2 (while also never migrating over to 6).
I'm a 6 player who never player 1,V, or 2042; even if 6 isn't all that different from 3/4, it's a first time in 13 years that I've gotten the "type" of Battlefield game that I like/wanted.
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u/Possibly_English_Guy 1d ago
there can't be infinity growth forever
A venture capital douchebag is currently trying to find your address to punish you for your 'hate speech' as we speak.
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u/Algae-Prize 1d ago
They need to stop with the CoD HQ bullshit man, making the game big for no reason
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u/SpookyCarnage Fire Axe Quest 1d ago
CoD subscribing to "big number" instead of "do combo" it seems
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u/Cooper_555 BRING BACK GAOGAIGAR 1d ago
Would an automatic weapon with a really high rate of fire count as "big number" or "do combo"?
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u/SpookyCarnage Fire Axe Quest 1d ago
Rapid fire small calibre is definitely in the "do combo" camp. The lower the fire rate and the bigger the calibre, the closer it gets to "big number"
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u/Cooper_555 BRING BACK GAOGAIGAR 1d ago
Yeah, something like a rifle that fires 50.BMG would obviously be "Big Number".
But take the GAU-8, a gatling cannon that fires 30mm shells at nearly 4,000 rpm. Is that "Big Number" or "Do Combo"?
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u/SpookyCarnage Fire Axe Quest 1d ago
It straddles the line, kinda. They arent shooting the same targets but both the shell size and the RPM are way up so an argument can be made in either direction for mr brrrrrrt
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u/walperinus 1d ago
there are reasons why old school boomer shoters had the weapons they had:
handgun, weak and slow > submachine gun, still weak but faster > automatic rifle, now the bullets do hurt (do combo)
shotgun and sniper, 2flavors of big number
explosives like grenade launcher (bigger numer) and rocket launcher (usually as an special weapon)
then the gatling/vulcan brrrrrrrrttt is an another special weapon doing big number cause of shotting 3digits of bullets per minute... so is a 'do combo'
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u/DerpsMcGee 1d ago
It's both, in a vacuum.
Context matters, though. Where it's actually being used, GAU-8 is "Do Combo" for sure. "Big Number" would be a JDAM or something.
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u/ToastyMozart Bearish on At-Risk Children 1d ago
Depends on what it's fighting. Most things it's Big Number, but against something really tough like a battleship with enough armor and volume to tank some hits it becomes Do Combo.
Kinda like the autocannon on an IFV: Number against infantry Combo against tanks.
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u/theonewhoknack 1d ago
I wasn't even aware MW3 got a remake. Maybe take a break and try something different instead of doing Black Ops 7 and Modern Warfare: H20
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u/GoneRampant1 WOKE UP TO JUSTICE... and insatiable bug fetishes 1d ago
"Remake" is a strong term for what Modern Warfare 3Cubed wound up being.
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u/SpookyCarnage Fire Axe Quest 1d ago
It wasnt even a full "remake". Unlike the original they didnt even wrap the story up
They also tried something new with these open combat zone things but in reality it just felt like they were slicing up parts of the battle royale map and telling the players to "go from point A to point B in any way you want". Which was very dull.
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u/JessieJ577 1d ago
Wasn’t it basically a cost cutting thing so that they could just ship out a campaign.
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u/GoneRampant1 WOKE UP TO JUSTICE... and insatiable bug fetishes 1d ago
Yep. Half the missions were those cost-cutting missions.
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u/SpookyCarnage Fire Axe Quest 1d ago
Pretty much, yeah. CoD games are at their strongest in linear environments and dropping you into a bunch of open environments with a very loose objective route really started to show the seams in the gameplay
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u/Minuettes_Disciple Locked in Wack Ass Gay Baby Crystal Prison 1d ago
It's nice to highlight the dev work and behind-the-scenes stuff in your marketing, but honestly the average person isn't really impressed or even understands that. Large player numbers also don't really matter much other than guaranteeing you'll find a match.
He's right that CoD has been such a long-time staple that they lose out on the excitement other games get for being super novel and fresh. But there's really nothing you can do there because CoD always has to be CoD. They could try another big swing like Advanced Warfare, but then they'll risk alienating the fans that want "real CoD".
They're stuck as video games McDonalds. Even if they add a little spice like a 8-way dive or some crazy new weapons, to most people, they'll be the same safe, cheeseburgers you eventually get tired of. No marketing can really change that.
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u/davidreding 1d ago
Also I should’ve added personally, maybe BO7 going all in on AI crap and just being pretty shit actually did some damage to the series. Or maybe there’s still some resentment to MW3 being kind of crap.
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u/TheSpiritualAgnostic Shockmaster 1d ago
You also had Battlefield 6 that outsold them last year, and GTA6 will probably do it this year. I can't think of another time CoD wasn't the best selling game two years in a row.
It's not just that they've gone downhill in quality like with MW3 and BO7, but there have been other games that appeal to a lot of the same people that play CoD.
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u/GhostOfGhosthand373 Local John Call of Duty, refuses to let go [PAIN] 1d ago
It's actually far more ingrained with the framework of the franchise and issues born out of MW2019 and Warzone, 6 fucking years of brand synergy, failed Warzone integrations, troubled development of multiple games, technical issues, weird design decisions, aesthetic inconsistency, poor communication and transparency, plain burnout, finally having stronger competition and the push for it to become a single unified thing finally reached its logical endpoint: bloat, boredom and exhaustion, gen AI and a bad campaigns are just the cherry on the top of the amalgamation of issues hold together with duct tape and gum.
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u/GhostOfGhosthand373 Local John Call of Duty, refuses to let go [PAIN] 1d ago
Once again, this is a result of years of compacting issues with the franchise, the generative AI usage and the nonsensical mess of a campaign of 7 absolutely had an effect on the overall perception and reception of the franchise (and also suck on a general level), it created negative first impressions that tainted the franchise's reputation and its foreseeable future, for a sizeable audience.
That being said there’s far more serious issues with the entire CoD ecosystem that people outside the more invested bubble aren’t aware of and are far more poignant to the franchise’s current predicament.
The overall perception of CoD was already in the gutter due to how poorly Black Ops 6 post launch was handled. The marketing that year was ABYSMAL (some of the worst delivered and contradicting information in series history), their reveal event was a mess and generated barely any positive buzz.
The back to back year nature of the last two Modern Warfare and Black Ops games made an already existing burnout effect even stronger and BO7 being a more direct sequel to Black Ops 2, the least "weird" of the Black Ops games, created an even bigger disconnect with an already messy tonal choice of going full hallucinatory hellscape with the game’s story and setting.
The necessity of integrating the yearly game to Warzone, forcing most of that year's quality of life implementations to be zeroed and starting from scratch has also created a cycle of perpetual frustration that literally goes back to 2019. Warzone itself started to homogenize with campaign, multiplayer, zombies and the overarching storylines to a degree that hurts all of them at the same time and strips them of individuality.
6 fucking years of brand synergy, failed Warzone integrations, troubled development of multiple games, technical issues, weird design decisions, aesthetic inconsistency, poor communication and transparency, plain burnout, finally having stronger competition and the push for it to become a single unified thing finally reached its logical endpoint: bloat, boredom and exhaustion, gen AI and a bad campaign are just the cherry on the top of the amalgamation of issues hold together with duct tape and gum.
Also just the plain fact the franchise has had over 20 yearly games, like holy fuck man this has to end at some point.
Battlefield 6 and Arc Raiders, while being vastly different gameplay experiences and not having the exact same playerbase did also take a bite out of CoD’s sales due to being closer to the same launch timeframe and offering a more attractive package.
BO7 in particular was a perfect storm of failure brewing for a while, it was highly likely to underperform regardless, it's the endpoint of the post MW2019 era of CoD and all the issues that came with it.
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u/Nyadnar17 1d ago
If the released the same game but it without the Call of Duty branding I doubt anyone would talk about it at all.
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u/Totally_a_boy "Give daddy some sugar." - Batman (2015) 1d ago
Well, he is an executive, his job is to find as many excuses as to why the games aren't selling as well.
Just make shit up until it sticks.
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u/red_sutter 1d ago
Maybe if they eased up and released one every 4 years instead of day-and-date every year, they wouldn’t get dragged over it so much
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u/KingMario05 Gimme a solo Tails game, you fucking cowards! 1d ago
Have they considered not making shit lol
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u/ShutUpAboutCanon 1d ago
The only people who care about CoD are people who don't pay attention to games media, they're two entirely different markets. None of the gaming podcasts I listen to ever even refer to it and none of the people I know who play games have played one in 10-15 years. It doesn't matter what games media says because the CoD audience who don't interact with that stuff are gonna buy it every year anyway.
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u/ramonzer0 It's Fiiiiiiiine. 1d ago
I think like even with the guys, they've only ever really brought up COD in respect to very specific topics, like the SBMM paper Activision put out explaining that it is an actual net positive to the online gameplay
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u/ShutUpAboutCanon 1d ago
It's kinda like when the topic of Wolverine came up and their only comment was "yeah that exists" and then they went back to Onimusha talk for 20 more minutes
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u/LeonSigmaKennedy 1d ago
I think they're genuinely insecure about, and don't want to accept the reality that their franchise is on the same level as Fifa/Madden.
Sells a bazillion copies, but basically no cultural impact, no one seriously views it as art, and it will be completely forgotten about in a year once the new one replaces it.
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u/Johnhancock1777 1d ago
The campaigns have been a new level of terrible from MW19-onwards and Warzone’s stench over the series as a whole is a net negative to all aspects of the games.
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u/SilverKry 1d ago
Eh cry about it. When your game comes out annually and it's basically the same shit different skin every year of course people aren't gonna care to cover it more than "Hey new cod comes out on x date" and move on.
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u/AeroDbladE 1d ago
This like McDonald's saying that food critics don't take them seriously as a gourmet experience.
Except thats still not an accurate comparison because atleast McDonald's tastes good and the server isn't trying to kick you in the balls every time you try to order.
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u/Lieutenant-America Scholar of the First Spindash 1d ago
I'm certain there's a lot of labor going into those games from hard-working devs (heck, Raven is one of those teams); it doesn't mean it's well-spent however.
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u/LeonSigmaKennedy 1d ago
Woah, you're telling me people got bored and don't care as much after you released the same game 15 times, and annual releases made your franchise less exciting? That's crazy, hold that thought as I have an incredibly tiny string instrument I think you should listen to
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u/TrueLegateDamar 1d ago
Corpos really losing all their mental filters when it comes to outright demanding no questions, just consume product and get excited for next product.
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u/NightmaresEve 1d ago
I think the biggest problem there is no real competition to compete with CoD. Bf6 is a different kind of fps compared to CoD the whole identity is team based and classes based. CoD has a team based mode but I feel most people just solo queue for some quick rounds and than stop. If we had more real good CoD like competitors it would make Activision maybe do something besides copy paste. At least in the 360 days there were many indie games that were like CoD but did different stuff like Gotham impostors.
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u/Aiddon 1d ago
I am not surprised he whines about this on The Games Business (a suspect outlet headed by the incompetent Christopher Dring who was also a boot polisher for Microsoft during the ActiBlizz acquisition fight). The extra bit of stupidity is how Bahl tries to get a cheap dig at Ocarina of Time in that interview, which really shows how sore he is. What a putz
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u/BigBossGZV Pat's wrong, all's right with the world 1d ago
Black Ops SEVEN!?!?! What the fuck has this series been doing while I've been looking the other way?
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u/strolpol Excited to be disappointed by games 1d ago
You’ve been making the same basic game for twenty years, no shit people have lost interest
Call of Duty needs another CoD4 total break with what came before
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u/Toothpasteonicecream 1d ago
It would probabaly be easier to take him seriously if the franchise hadn't begun to so heavily lean on AI shit.
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u/Gorotheninja "SILENCE, BREEDER! The Bloodline MUST continue!" 1d ago
Lol, whine harder.
It's gonna make a billion dollars regardless, who cares about a "Cod Tax"
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u/A_N_G_E_L_O_N Deep Nut Wheelchair Miracle: Piss Bottle Dominance 1d ago
On top of the word and they still want to see themselves as the underdogs. This is like the NY Yankees or the LA Lakers but in video game form.