Why Call Of Duty is increasingly under threat as king of the console shooters

http://media.edge-online.com/wp-cont...-4-610x343.jpgThis morning’s round of Call Of Duty: Ghosts reviews saw the series plot a new point in the series’ gently declining critical trajectory, but that’ll mean nothing to the millions that pick up the game today. For many, Call Of Duty turned from product into a pastime long ago.The tight loops of satisfying play, multiplayer perks and progression that Modern Warfare defined – and subsequent titles have refined – have been pulling in new players and refusing to let them go for years; when Infinity Ward executive producer Mark Rubin speaks of Call Of Duty players, he refers to them as being part of a culture, not just a fanbase.No matter what you call the Call Of Duty phenomenon, after the release of GTAV on top of expected new entries in the FIFA, Battlefield and Assassin’s Creed series, Call of Duty has more to worry about this year. These are games which play in the same space as Infinity Ward’s shooter – the kind which crossover to become one of the handful of annual purchases made by the mainstream videogame player.“I’m not worried, we have a very strong user base, we have a massive amount of people that buy the game and buy it every year,” says Rubin. ”It is a tough year – tougher than most from a competition standpoint. We did have GTA, we have Battlefield 4 – there are a lot of games coming out. So it’s definitely tough but we’re nowhere near afraid of the competition.”Right now, Rubin’s confidence is justified. Call Of Duty has become so ingrained in game culture that its many achievements have almost become invisible. Most reviews of the game barely even comment on Infinity Ward’s skilful handling of gunfeel or just how compulsive its suite of multiplayer modes continue to be; they are almost taken for granted in what is the tenth mainline Call Of Duty game.

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