Poll: Do you think CoD will ever die?

[ghostrider409895]

I think the stories have declined a bit (I cannot speak for MW3 or Black Ops 2) since earlier Call of Duty games such as when it was set during the time of WWII, but I think the franchise as a whole can still survive. I realize that there are criticisms put toward Call of Duty, but there are also many people that just like to sit down and enjoy playing a game which doesn't ask anything too tasking of you for a while.
Unless Call of Duty developers decide to take a really radical risk on their current formula, I don't think they will see a much praise as they did when they were first coming out with modern warfare games. However, I think that they can succeed on adding new extensions and maintaining servers for their games because they do have loyal fans who enjoy playing their games, and it even fills the need to just relax and play something simple that some people who have stressful jobs or school want in their life. I think Call of Duty will not die unless something horrible happens that makes it either unplayable, or just alters what they have to something unrecognizable. It is safe as it is.

 

[immortalfrieza]

Snip

The difference between COD and Mario and other games that have been copied is that 1. Everybody and his mother hasn't been copying Mario or those other games, while EVERYBODY wants a piece of the COD pie, even people that aren't even making shooters are aiming for COD's audience and 2. the clones have IMPROVED AND INNOVATED on those game's formula, while with COD everybody is just cut and pasting COD's look, controls, and atmosphere straight for the most part, and those few that don't do that don't deviate from that formula that much and don't get the recognition they need to make a difference in the industry as a whole anyway. Mario, Metroid, Pong, etc., copying those had largely positive impact on the video game industry, but copying COD hasn't, and that's why the former gets a pass.

If COD were to die out, it would not only send a message to at least a few developers and publishers that it's probably a bad idea to just blindly copy the next big thing, the industry would switch to emulating some other popular game franchise, and maybe they'd actually put some effort into making those games worthwhile, and if not, well, the industry would be no worse off than it already was. At worst, COD dying would cause things to barely change, and at best it would result in a complete about face in the practices of the video game industry, there's really no downside.

 

[DeadRise17]

I think it will stick around until something better comes along. Most franchises do...except Nintendo's.

 

[Reaper195]

It's incredibly popular. Probably not for a few decades. "A few decades!?" you may exclaim, but Star Wars has been pouring out shit (And sometimes actual shit) since the seventies. And that's just movies. Black Ops 2 was the biggest sale launch in the history of entertainment media. Not even Star Wars has ever been able to claim something like that.

 

[Vigormortis]

I would have preferred a: "Hard to say yet how popular Call of Duty will be going forward into the new gen, or how long it will retain that popularity."

Or, even better: "Does it matter either way?"

I don't get it. I'm not really a fan of the series now-a-days either but to honestly believe, as many in here seem to, that it is somehow a cancer on the gaming industry is ludicrous at best.

Honestly sit back and reassess your perspectives on the industry. You'll quickly realize that Call of Duty, as it is today, isn't the disease plaguing the industry. It's a symptom. A small piece of a much, much larger, systemic issue.

 

[Zetatrain]

I would have preferred a: "Hard to say yet how popular Call of Duty will be going forward into the new gen, or how long it will retain that popularity."

Or, even better: "Does it matter either way?"

I don't get it. I'm not really a fan of the series now-a-days either but to honestly believe, as many in here seem to, that it is somehow a cancer on the gaming industry is ludicrous at best.

Honestly sit back and reassess your perspectives on the industry. You'll quickly realize that Call of Duty, as it is today, isn't the disease plaguing the industry. It's a symptom. A small piece of a much, much larger, systemic issue.

Well the reason a lot of people hate its popularity is because a lot of other developers try to emulate COD by adding COD elements into their FPSs. As a result the FPS market becomes more and more homogenized and over-saturated with COD clones. One of the reasons a lot of Battlefield series veterans were unsatisfied with Battlefield 3 was because it added COD elements to the game.

While the blame should rest with the developers that try to emulate COD and not COD's popularity its not unreasonable to think that if the COD series dies other developers would stop trying to copy it. Although, you are right about COD being the symptom of a much bigger problem; With the cost of AAA development and a fragile economy developers are not gonna what to take risks and therefore will stick to playing it safe,

 

[Evil Smurf]

Justin Beiber

I fixed it for you. On topic I don't think it will die. It is a popular franchise and they always continue.

 

[OtakuNinja]

i think it will decline slowly over the next few years,

as with most franchises about 5 years later it will do a full reset and they will release "Call of Duty" which it will takeoff again and the cycle continues.

 

[bjj hero]

There is a lot of hate here. Why would people come out and say they want a game to flop. Lots of people enjoy it and plenty of people would lose their job if it bombed. If you dont like it then dont play it. It wont affect you.

That's the problem, it DOES affect everyone. Due to COD's success, every video game developer out there is trying to emulate COD's formula in an attempt to grab it's audience, and as a result otherwise great games are being turned into bland brown shooters. The reason why COD dying out would be good for the industry is that developers would STOP DOING THAT! COD is ruining the quality of countless games throughout the industry just by existing, Mario, Madden, Fifa, Street Fighter, and other games that have been the same over and over with every release haven't done this, and that's why they get a pass. It doesn't hurt that each of them actually deviate from their formulas once in a while either.

Zachary amaranths answer said a lot of what i wanted to say. Copy cats chasing success is an issue wth the industry that killing cod wont fix. Id also add there were plenty of shooters knocking around long before cod4 arrived, admittedly the console proliferation came later than on the PC. So i guess we disagree. I put it down to it being cool to hate cod.

 

[Roxor]

I think it will die. We just have to wait for the publisher to run it into the ground or the userbase to grow up. Now, when that will happen, I have no idea.

 

[Legion]

Eventually, but I doubt it will be any time soon. I think it largely depends on whether or not anything else comes along to knock it off it's spot. Halo was the big console online FPS before COD grew so popular, so I wouldn't be surprised if some time next generation something else does the same to it.

Although as Zachary Amaranth said:

You're talking about treating the symptoms to cure the underlying cause. While they're following CoD, the problem is they're following something, and that's been an issue since the beginning of gaming. Pong Clones, Donkey Kong Clones, Super Mario Clones, Twin Hitler Clones, etc. etc etc etc. The industry is always looking for something to follow. If CoD dies, it will look for something else. This is not a good thing, nor is it healthy. It means that there is an endemic problem underlying the brown shooter patches on the surface.

It's not really COD that is the problem, it is the underlying attitude that is leading so many companies to try and emulate it. Triple A gaming is expensive, and developers are constantly looking for blockbusters to rake in the profits. COD is the current "top dog" so that is the game they are all trying to clone. Just like when WOW was at it's peak it caused MMO's to become saturated with "WOW killers".

If COD went then it wouldn't miraculously create innovation and original ideas, the triple A industry would just latch onto whatever took it's place at the top of the sales charts.

 

[Atmos Duality]

All CoD 4.x did was inherit Halo's throne. It'll eventually die out or be usurped by some other big hit, just as it did to Halo.

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

It's a good game that's being milked by a dreadful publisher unting nothing but a dry withered husk of its former glory remains and people stop buying it. You know. Like what they did with Tony Hawk's franchise. And Guitar Hero.

 

[Sofus]

Has CoD managed to become an e-sport yet? if people don't have a reason to continue playing a specific FPS several times each week, then they will eventually stop buying the new versions of the same game that is released every year.

Ofcourse... if CoD manages to become an e-sport, then the publisher will have to stop releasing new versions every year.

 

[babinro]

It seems to be a solid reliable franchise at this point.
I'd say it's safe to assume that CoD has reached, Mario, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, Madden, Zelda status.

This doesn't even remotely bother me either. I'm completely in favour of yearly installments to games because you don't need to buy each one. I'll typically just buy one NHL game per console generation and be completely satisfied with the purchase. The fact that 7 versions of the game was released in the generation doesn't tick me off or make me feel bad.

 

[Kristian Fischer]

Of course it will die. No gaming franchise lasts forever.

 

[heroicbob]

i think its name is just too well known at this point whenever a non hardcore gamer (someone who doesn't play games everyday or read gaming news) says they play games call of duty is generally what they play

that said with all the other games chasing the call of duty sales by making something as similar as possible maybe people will just get sick of that particular style of games in general

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

Sooner or later people will stop buying it. When they realize they already bought CoD.
Because lets be honest, CoD is one game with yearly full priced expansion packs.

They already ran out of ideas after Cod4 and WaW, to say this cow has been milked would be an understatement.

Also IW and Treyarch are good studios, I want to see what else they can do.

 

[Something Amyss]

1. Everybody and his mother hasn't been copying Mario or those other games, while EVERYBODY wants a piece of the COD pie, even people that aren't even making shooters are aiming for COD's audience and

I just covered how that's not true, so let's move on....

2. the clones have IMPROVED AND INNOVATED on those game's formula, while with COD everybody is just cut and pasting COD's look, controls, and atmosphere straight for the most part, and those few that don't do that don't deviate from that formula that much and don't get the recognition they need to make a difference in the industry as a whole anyway.

Could you rephrase that into something intelligible? Too many commas make for confusion. You even look like you contradict yourself.

Mario, Metroid, Pong, etc., copying those had largely positive impact on the video game industry, but copying COD hasn't, and that's why the former gets a pass.

Of course, the knockoff mentality was a large contributing factor in the 80s video game crash, but it was largely positive.

lolwot.

I suppose we should pretend Mario clones were also largely beneficial and not contributing to the same issue once more, because ponies, right?

If COD were to die out, it would not only send a message to at least a few developers and publishers that it's probably a bad idea to just blindly copy the next big thing, the industry would switch to emulating some other popular game franchise, and maybe they'd actually put some effort into making those games worthwhile, and if not, well, the industry would be no worse off than it already was. At worst, COD dying would cause things to barely change, and at best it would result in a complete about face in the practices of the video game industry, there's really no downside.

No downside except a possible diminished investment in gaming as a whole because it no longer looks like a tenable market. You left that part out, and it's rather important. Your expectations are unrealistic and speak more to your "optimism" than any realistic understanding of the corporate mindset.