Call of Duty 2 fans to strike

Written by Geoff Richards

November 29, 2005 | 05:01

Tags: #call-of-duty-2 #counter-strike #cs-source #fear #patch #quake-ii #server #strike

Companies: #activision #infinity-ward

"We will be ignored no longer" and with those words, Call of Duty 2 fans are encouraged to commit digital treason and go on strike.

Gamers are enraged by the lack of support for the game from both the publisher, Activision, and developer, Infinity Ward. If either is unwilling or unable to filter some intel down the chain of command to the grunts on the battlefield by 16th December, the masses will be united in downing tools and stage a mass no-play protest.

"We request here and now that either Activision or Infinity Ward make an official announcement regarding their future support for the Call of Duty series of games on or before 16th December 2005" said protest instigator, 'ButchCassidy' in his post on the official Infinity Ward forums.

The thread currently stands at 23 pages, with some 573 replies. The disaffected fans are seeking answers to the following questions:<ol><li>When will you include an Anti-Cheat system for COD2?</li><li>When you you release your first patch for COD2?</li><li>What will it include?</li><li>What other plans have you for the support of the Call of Duty Games?</li><li>What will you do to ensure this situation does not arise again?</li></ol>If Activision / Infinity Ward are not forthcoming with a response by the deadline, there will be a series of 24 hour server shutdowns en mass of all Call of Duty games, at a time still to be decided. The threat is slightly curious: there is no doubting the PR nightmare at stake, but any shutdown only serves to further punish those people who have purchased the game.

In a way, it is akin to a digital hunger strike. Activision already have £30/$50 from the point of sale, but to prove the point, gamers are willing to forego playing for a day the one game they clearly have a strong desire to keep playing.

&quot;Don't take this lightly, word spreads, people won't buy a broken toy,&quot; warns 'ButchCassidy'. &quot;This has never been done before and do you really want to go down as the first and only companies to have its client/fan base take such drastic measures in order to simply be given some regular information about a product? The choice is yours alone.&quot; Stern words indeed.

While nothing can match the immense popularity of Counter-Strike 1.6 / CS:Source - over 10 million players in the past month - the Call of Duty series is secure in the Number 2 position with nearly 3 million players online in the past 31 days. Of some concern to Activision should be that 1.8 million are sticking with the original game, while COD2 is played by a mere 1.1 million. Should the drama over future support for Call of Duty 2 continue, many existing COD fans may not bother to upgrade to the sequel.

Top 10 Most Played Games Online - CSports.net<ol><li>Counter-Strike [1.6] - 7,445,415</li><li>Counter-Strike Source - 2,839,393</li><li>Call of Duty - 1,834,701</li><li>Wolfenstein Enemy Territory - 1,257,774</li><li>Battlefield 2 - 1,105,525</li><li>Call of Duty 2 - 1,099,004</li><li>Medal Of Honor - 792,574</li><li>Quake III Arena - 585,933</li><li>Soldier Of Fortune II - 568,832</li><li>Day of Defeat - 451,711</li></ol>In other, related news, we noted with interest that Vivendi's F.E.A.R. is currently ranked 30th, far behind ancient classics Half-Life (12th), Quake II (21st) and Tribes (26th). In our F.E.A.R. review we found the online multiplayer to be disappointing and it seems gamers worldwide agree - nearly three times the number of people are playing id Software's 8-year old seminal classic FPS than the latest bells & whistles shooter. Gameplay over graphics if I ever saw it.


Will gamers who cross the digital picket line and host their own servers on the day risk being labelled as 'scabs'? Does a digital scab still bleed if you scratch it? Is the solution to the strike to simply play Counter-Strike? Discuss devleoper's obligations to their customer base in our News Discussion forum.
Discuss this in the forums
YouTube logo
MSI MPG Velox 100R Chassis Review

October 14 2021 | 15:04

TOP STORIES

SUGGESTED FOR YOU