Infinity Ward Says Call of Duty Players Aren't "Hardcore Gamers"

[Michael Epstein]

Infinity Ward Says Call of Duty Players Aren't "Hardcore Gamers"

Infinity Ward producer believes that there's only room for one game in most CoD fans' lives.

Infinity Ward executive producer Mark Rubin knows the secret to Call of Duty's success. According to Rubin, Call of Duty sells so many copies year after year because it isn't competing with other games for players' time and money. The average Call of Duty fan only buys one game every year: Call of Duty.

Speaking with OXM [http://www.oxm.co.uk/64296/many-call-of-duty-players-arent-hardcore-gamers-or-even-gamers-says-infinity-ward/], Rubin was asked if he thinks the transition to next-gen consoles will affect the franchise's audience. Rubin believes the switch will go smoothly, because Call of Duty players are going to keep playing the series, regardless of what platforms they own.

"It's kind of a weird, ironic thing to say," says Rubin. "They aren't hardcore gamers, or even gamers, but they play Call of Duty every night. And those guys are going to continue to play regardless of platform. So I think not only will we continue to engage with that existing player base, but we'll take next gen and see how far we can go with it."

Rubin doesn't go so far as to label fans of the series "casual" gamers, but he has a point. As OXM points out, there seems to be a large group of people who pick up two or three games per year, including Call of Duty and either Madden or Fifa. Even though they are console game-players, it's wouldn't necessarily be fair to label fans "gamers," if no other reason than they may not associate with the label themselves.

Call of Duty: Ghosts hits Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U and PC November 5. It will be available on PS4 and Xbox One at their respective launches.

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[bartholen_v1legacy]

Well duh. Isn't it pretty much established that CoD is to games what Michael Bay movies are to cinema. So in the same way people who go see his films aren't cinephiles. I don't really see this as any sort of revelation.

 

[Karadalis]

Well duh. Isn't it pretty much established that CoD is to games what Michael Bay movies are to cinema. So in the same way people who go see his films aren't cinephiles. I don't really see this as any sort of revelation.

I thought call of duty and its ilk are more along the line of uwe boll?

Thought the guy is leaning out preeeety far claiming that his audience of millions of players playing call of duty ONLY play call of duty all year long.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Hey?

They play a game every night, and that makes them not hardcore gamers? Just cause it's games from the same franchise?

 

[Alexander Kirby]

Paying COD all the time would make you a hardcore COD player, but to call yourself a hardcore gamer you really need to play a wide variety of games.

 

[Paragon Fury]

Why do I read this as an admission of "The only reason so many people play Call of Duty is because they have no idea there are far better games out there and we know it?"

Seriously, there is nothing CoD does better than anyone else now. Battlefield does everything better, Halo does everything better, Gears does everything better......

The only thing CoD could say it does better is hold your hand and try to make you feel "special" by dumbing the game down.

 

[fix-the-spade]

They play a game every night, and that makes them not hardcore gamers? Just cause it's games from the same franchise?

Correct, I even meet these people. One of them is my local butcher, he goes crazy for Call of Duty, but is 'not' a gamer even in his own world view.

Call of Duty to him is a hobby in of itself, he's not a 'gamer' he's a 'Call of Duty player,' bring up things like Counter Strike or Battlefield and he just instantly glazes over. I think it's fair enough to differentiate these people from the self identified 'hardcore gamer' who's played everything and probably got 100% too.

They're the same demographic that buys Fifa or Madden every single year, or guys (because it's mostly guys) who buy GT, a steering wheel and play nothing else, ever. They're markets and demographics all by themselves, for better or worse.

 

[The White Hunter]

Hey?

They play a game every night, and that makes them not hardcore gamers? Just cause it's games from the same franchise?

I would've thought that that kind of dedication to a single franchise is pretty hardcore in and of itself, if I'm honest.

I do play Call of Duty but I also have it as just a small fraction of my wide and varied gaming diet. It's a nice little explosion filled thoughtless thing that comes around every year to do nothing but amuse for a while before the next more detailed and complex experience.

 

[Someone Depressing]

Call of Duty is perhaps the most girly serious of games in the world, matched only to Sailor Moon games.

Also, the concept of "casual" and "hardcore" causes me physical trauma. You either play games, or as a hobby, or whatever. So, if you're either an old woman sick of her void sex life, or a "hardcore" 12 year old who victimizes women on XBox Live? That's not very diverse. There are many different kinds of gamers out there.

 

[Erttheking]

....Well this is new.

Also I have to disagree with the terminology used here. These people are gamers, though I would agree that that they aren't hardcore "Playing one game every night is...I don't know the word for that one. Obsession isn't right and is too cruel, it isn't obsession" I'd say that they're more causal gamers, and I don't use that word with the loaded hatred some people do. They're causal and there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[CriticalMiss]

Aaaaand cue the death threats to developers.

'I iz t3h hdrcorz! il no scowp u biytch!!11 Lulz y0l0420' Said the COD monkey before preordering an extra copy of the game, just in case.

Although 'hardcore gamer' is a difficult label to really define, I would say that if someone played only WoW (or any game really) for dozens of hours a week they are a pretty hardcore fan of the game or possibly easily amused. But that doesn't really extend in to hardcore gamer territory if you are naive of other games out there. And it doesn't really mean a lot to be 'hardcore' other than you get call yourself hardcore. The games industry, it is a silly place.

 

[Andrew_C]

Bollocks. If you are going to say you aren't a gamer because you only play COD, you might as well say you can't call youself a gamer until you've played (and enjoyed) Europa Universalis, Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup or Dwarf Fortress.

I personally hate COD and it's ilk , but the bro who plays only bro shooters is as much a gamer as me and probably spends more on games.

 

[Canadish]

Say what you want about Activision and it's developers, but they're not stupid. They know their market, they figured it out years ago.

If only the rest of the industry could figure this out and stop trying to hijack the COD audience, we might get some different genre of titles made occasionally. Those people aren't going to budge, or try your game, they already have their yearly game.

I'm also glad to see him disassociate them from the rest of the "gaming community". Can we stop getting blamed for the racist and sexist little 14 year knobheads who only play COD now?

Bollocks. If you are going to say you aren't a gamer because you only play COD, you might as well say you can't call youself a gamer until you've played (and enjoyed) Europa Universalis, Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup or Dwarf Fortress.

I personally hate COD and it's ilk , but the guy who plays only bro shooters is as much a gamer as me and probably spends more on games.

To be fair, would you call someone who only goes to watch Superhero movies and Romantic Comedies a "movie buff"? They're just someone who watches big AAA movies. If you just play one or two games a year, you're not really a "gamer", just someone who plays games.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

Hey?

They play a game every night, and that makes them not hardcore gamers? Just cause it's games from the same franchise?

I probably play 5 hours of gaming every night but even I am often hesitant to label myself as a 'gamer'. It carries a lot of negative stigma. Gamer is the new "nerd". They might be gamers, but they don't associate themselves as gamers.

The biggest distinguishing factor I've noticed between hardcore/casual/gamer/non-gamer labeling has nothing to do with how many games someone plays or even how often they play. It's all about mentality. Most people I know that play games like CoD do it for one reason: to unwind. It doesn't matter whether they're good or bad (they fill the entire spectrum), the hardcore term being used by the devs is in regards to the players that push themselves to the limits, maybe trying to break/master the game mechanics. Compare how you play Dark Souls to how you play CoD and their hardcore concept makes a lot of sense.

 

[MarcellusMagnus]

Is a person who only plays Call of Duty and not Assassin's Creed, Europa Universalis or Final Fantasy not a 'gamer'?

Is a person who only plays basketball and doesn't swim, play hockey or run hurdles regularly not an 'athlete'?

 

[Thaluikhain]

The biggest distinguishing factor I've noticed between hardcore/casual/gamer/non-gamer labeling has nothing to do with how many games someone plays or even how often they play. It's all about mentality. Most people I know that play games like CoD do it for one reason: to unwind. It doesn't matter whether they're good or bad (they fill the entire spectrum), the hardcore term being used by the devs is in regards to the players that push themselves to the limits, maybe trying to break/master the game mechanics. Compare how you play Dark Souls to how you play CoD and their hardcore concept makes a lot of sense.

So...replaying every level of Candy Crush over and over till I beat all my FB friend's scores would make me a hardcore gamer?

 

[Another]

I don't really care for the term "hardcore", everyone seems to have a different opinion on what it means. Similarly, I don't really care for the "gamer" label either. I think extra credits mentioned it in an early episode when they were still here,to paraphrase: "people who watch movies aren't "movie-watchers", and people who read books aren't "bookers"".

But, I get what Rubin is going for. It's a matter of demographics more-so than a casual vs hardcore divide,imo. The demographic that really makes COD such a widespread success isn't the demographic who drops money on multiple games throughout the year and don't play CoD regularly. Its the random guy, who uses his Xbox as a dedicated Call of Duty and Madden player. I have several friends who are this way, and they could not be less interested in other games, and are constantly amazed that I won't pay for Xbox live Gold just to play CoD.

 

[Klagermeister]

Well, that's pretty obvious, but it seems people on this thread seem to take it a bit further, saying they're all either dudebros or 12 year old boys.

I mean, I personally do play a lot of CoD, mostly the zombies mode. But I play all sorts of games. Mirror's Edge, Soul Calibur, Marvel vs. Capcom, Battlefront, Phoenix Wright, Megaman, Assassin's Creed, Minecraft, Skyrim... Holy crap, I never realized how many games I play.
I personally haven't met a gamer who plays one game exclusively. But even those who do, hell, they do what they like.
Are they really any different than someone who gets the new iteration of iPhone every year, or ups their PC specs on a monthly basis, or follows sports teams religiously, or anything like that?

I'd call them enthusiasts, and there's nothing wrong with that. Heck, as far as things to get every year, CoD isn't really even that bad. At least Treyarch tries to mix things up a little bit, what with zombies mode, the Pick 10 system, moral choices in the story, all that jazz.

If they like buying CoD every year, they can go for it. They know what they like and they're gonna keep playing it. I buy CoD and AC every year, and enjoy them immensely, but I always keep my gaming horizons expansive. A little of everything, yknow?

(Inb4 omgwhywouldyouplaycoditssostupidyouhavethewooloveryoureyesnongamer)

 

[Clovus]

Hey?

They play a game every night, and that makes them not hardcore gamers? Just cause it's games from the same franchise?

I probably play 5 hours of gaming every night but even I am often hesitant to label myself as a 'gamer'. It carries a lot of negative stigma. Gamer is the new "nerd". They might be gamers, but they don't associate themselves as gamers.

Five hours is pretty impressive; isn't that, like, all of your free time weekdays? You read and post comments on a gaming website too. Sounds like you are definitely a video gaming enthusiast. I actively present myself as a "gamer". Maybe I don't mind it as much since I grew up being identified by others as a "nerd".

The biggest distinguishing factor I've noticed between hardcore/casual/gamer/non-gamer labeling has nothing to do with how many games someone plays or even how often they play. It's all about mentality. Most people I know that play games like CoD do it for one reason: to unwind. It doesn't matter whether they're good or bad (they fill the entire spectrum), the hardcore term being used by the devs is in regards to the players that push themselves to the limits, maybe trying to break/master the game mechanics. Compare how you play Dark Souls to how you play CoD and their hardcore concept makes a lot of sense.

Interesting points. While playing games sometimes let's me "unwind", that's definitely not the reason I play. Do the "unwind" people not play on the weekends when they don't have the stress to deal with? I actively seek out time to play games, read about them, post my thoughts about them, etc. I think of myself as the video game equivalent of a "movie buff" or even "movie snob". I've only taken a minor interest in min/maxing. I mainly just like to experience a wide range of different games. I spend a lot of time considering games as art. I definitely consider myself to be in a totally different "group" than someone who just mostly plays CoD. I don't know if that makes me "hardcore" or something else though.

However, given all that, I only play about 2 hours a day.