Call of Duty Ghosts: “the critical response doesn’t always mirror the fans’ appreciation of a game”

Call of Duty Ghosts: “the critical response doesn’t always mirror the fans’ appreciation of a game”

Activision’s Eric Hirshberg has defended the general lacklustre response to Call of Duty: Ghosts among critics recently, saying that the company is primarily driven by what fans want.

“Obviously I don’t agree with the critics [on the issue of diminishing returns from an annual franchise],” said Hirshberg. “I know that Call of Duty’s a polarising franchise with some of the critics, and it’s clear to me that not all the critics like our strategy of making a game every year, but thankfully our fans do.”

“It’s also clear to me that the critical response doesn’t always mirror the fans’ appreciation of a game. We actually do read the critics’ comments and take them into consideration during our creative process, but we just can’t measure ourselves by that yardstick alone.”

Hirshberg rattled off a variety of statistics to drive home the point, all of which are undeniably true.

“If you look at the fact that [Ghosts is] the most pre-ordered game of the year, it’s the most pre-ordered next-gen game of the year, it’s already the number one most played on Xbox Live, and that we’re seeing longer average playtimes than ever before, we’re confident that we’re doing well by the criteria that matter most.”

You can find our own thoughts on Call of Duty: Ghosts right here.

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