The reveal of a new Call of Duty is a big deal. After all, the long-running shooter franchise is one of the best-selling games year after year, even with a new entry arriving annually.
If the reaction to Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare's reveal trailer is any indication, that could change this year. Since hitting the Web on Monday morning, the official video has been watched more than eight million times. Sounds like it's doing well, right? However, look below the views to the trailer's likes and dislikes, and an entirely different picture begins to appear.
Currently, the trailer sports more than 340,000 dislikes. That's a lot, especially when compared with the video's 182,000 likes. In fact, the number of dislikes is nearly double that of likes.
What gives? Why are so many fans responding negatively to the video? There are a couple of reasons. For one, many fans have grown tired of the franchise's yearly focus on sci-fi and futuristic weaponry. More than a few gamers long for a return to the "good old days" of Call of Duty, like the Modern Warfare subseries.
That brings us directly to the second (and primary) reason for why the video is getting so much hate: Modern Warfare Remastered. Activision revealed that a visually-overhauled, new and improved version of the classic Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will be arriving alongside Infinite Warfare ... but only if fans buy the $80 or more special editions of the new entry in the franchise. According to Activision, Modern Warfare Remastered won't be sold separately.
Hence the huge number of dislikes and angry comments. More than a few gamers frustrated with Call of Duty's recent entries would love to shell out the cash for Modern Warfare Remastered, but they don't want to do so if that means paying a huge amount of money for a game they aren't interested in. For many, it's as if Activision is holding Modern Warfare Remastered hostage.
Chances are, Activision will eventually release Modern Warfare Remastered separately. It would be stupid not to. After all, Activision loves money, and Modern Warfare Remastered will definitely make money. That being said, it might not arrive outside the special editions of Infinite Warfare for months or even years. It's not so different from what happened when Activision re-released Call of Duty Classic, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 port of the original Call of Duty. The game was first re-released as part of the Hardened and Prestige editions of Modern Warfare 2, becoming available to purchase for all players roughly a month later.
Until Activision actually does reveal when players can purchase Modern Warfare Remastered alone, the company can expect even more angry fans.
