Welcome back to ‘In My Head’, a series where I ramble on about anything gaming related that comes to mind. This week, we’ve seen the news that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is going to be remastered and released with Infinite Warfare on November 4th. For me, this means Infinite Warfare will out sell every other Call of Duty ever. And I mean ever.
These days, there tends to be two types of people that buy the latest instalment of Call of Duty: Those that desperately hope the new game will capture the essence of past games in the series, and those who just want their CoD fix every year. Infinite Warfare hopes to satisfy both camps.
Those of us that are lucky enough to remember the original Modern Warfare are no doubt hugely excited for the chance to experience the action on a next-gen console. I’ve been discussing with friends which maps will be reincarnated, and whether or not we will see the exact same game. I personally hope for a renewed perk system above all else. Many people will cite my wishes as heresy, but let’s be honest. Look back critically at Modern Warfare, do you really want Frag x3? Juggernaut? Remember how you could come up against someone that just wouldn’t die thanks to that pesky medic cross? Do you really want that rage again? I think not. I loved CoD 4, but I want the developers to have learned from their mistakes.
Moving away from the remastered aspect of Infinite Warfare, it doesn’t look like a horrific game. Black Ops III was certainly the best of recent next-gen Call of Duty games, with Ghosts and Advanced Warfare being fairly poor. Utilising all that they have learned, coupled with the fact they are branching into the new territory of outer space (sort of), Infinite Warfare could be a standalone great.
However, the sole reason it will be the best seller ever is because it shall piggy back off the nostalgia of CoD players past. I have numerous friends that will pay the £79.99 for Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered, and simply sell the Infinite Warfare portion on, either privately or to high street stores such as Game or CeX. Despite this, Activision still gets the sale. As a result, I can see many CoD purists coming out of the woodwork to get the chance to relive Modern Warfare, and driving sales through the roof.
This definitely isn’t a bad thing. Call of Duty games tend to represent the benchmark of first-person shooters, despite how much we wish they didn’t. The drive in sales could see different developers explore their options, and also see how well a reboot could do. Ratchet & Clank is a testament to that already; a staggeringly good game building off the success of an original title. With the rumours around a Crash Bandicoot reboot (and they are thin at best) being in the mix, a gigantic game like Modern Warfare getting remastered and being successful could be the push needed for other developers.
However, here comes Battlefield. The teaser trailer for Battlefield 1 came out, and it has raised a hashtag; #RIPCoD. Supposedly, this strikes fear into CoD fans and developers, but with no good reason. For Battlefield fans and CoD fans, the release of Battlefield has never meant CoD does worse or better. This time around, it won’t dent sales for Infinite Warfare. At all. Battlefield 1 looks outstanding, and you better believe that it will do brilliantly, but it will make no difference to a Modern Warfare remaster. CoD is too big, and Battlefield is too different. Without straying off topic too much: Stop comparing Battlefield and Call of Duty. They are two different games with two different fan bases. Buying one doesn’t mean the other one doesn’t sell! Be realistic! If you prefer one, it doesn’t mean you can’t like another! Stop arguing!
Anyway, despite the opposition provided by rivals, tickling the nostalgia was always going to be enough for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare to be the highest selling game of all time. And I really don’t believe I’ll be proven wrong.
Please comment and tell me your thoughts, tell me if you think I’m wrong. Remember to leave all fanboying or fangirling at the door though, it never makes you look good.
1 Comment
Infinity Warfare, as soon as Activision confirmed the COD 4 remaster was being bundled with it I bet most gamer’s thought fair enough you are stiffing us for having to buy the sci-fi soap-opera to get COD 4.
But then most gamer’s will then be trading it in and keeping the download code for COD 4. It will sell loads this year, but not on merit for being a good game. It’s just COD and COD sells because little Jimmy has it at school, then little Jimmy’s mates all want it. The snowball effect takes hold and there is no stopping it.