Wednesday Morning Rant [Joe Mannix]

Nine years ago, alleged undisclosed conflicts of interest resulted in controversy and a subsequent legitimacy crisis in some major video games press outlets and the saga now known as Gamergate began. After the press tried to recast the problem as a misogynistic troll campaign, something unprecedented happened: the gamers didn't surrender. Gamergate became the first major battle in the contemporary culture war, and the first time there was meaningful push-back and significant counter-narrative action against what is now called "Woke."

Games are once again embroiled in battle, this time in the fourth-largest video game franchise of all time: Call of Duty. The franchise has sold nearly half a billion copies and raked in over $30 billion over the past 20 years. It is second only to ancient mega-franchises like Nintendo's Mario and Pokemon.

Like all major modern games, Call of Duty games include in-game purchases of virtual accessories called Bundles. There is also a big professional and semi-professional player base, and it's a major game for streamers on platforms like Twitch. One such major streamer is called "Nickmercs," who is a champion player with a large following. In a crossover that is not unusual, there was a "Nickmercs" Bundle available in the game's online market. Was. Activision - the owner of Call of Duty - pulled it down because of a tweet.

Last week, there was a school board protest in Glendale, CA that turned violent over the topic of "Pride Month" activities in the school system. "Nickmercs" tweeted a reply to a tweet about it:

@NICKMERCS
They should leave little children alone. That's the real issue.
12:32 PM - Jun 7, 2023

Due to recent events, we have removed the "NICKMERCS Operator" bundle from the Modern Warfare II and Warzone store. We are focused on celebrating PRIDE with our employees and our community.

The same day, Activision tweeted out some Pride Month pablum. It was ratioed, and the comment thread beneath it is brutal. The next day, Activision tweeted more Pride Month propaganda - only this time, they disabled comments. It got ratioed anyway.

Call of Duty's own Twitter account doesn't have any Pride Month nonsense, but their recent tweets see a lot of replies - most of them negative because of this incident. As Ace mentioned in yesterday's Quick Hits, the company is apparently pulling down some promotional tweets that get ratioed because all of this is happening on the eve of major new expansions. We'll see if it has a significant effect on sales.

I doubt that it will. Call of Duty is not one of many virtually indistinguishable products. It is a distinct thing with a major following and huge fan base. It's more akin to the NFL than it is to Bud Light. Like the NFL, I suspect that it will prove to be resilient and I doubt it will affect the ongoing acquisition of the company by Microsoft. Even if this does not result in a meaningful sales decline, however, the popular response to Activision and the franchise itself has been severe, negative and constant - and therefore hopeful. They're burning up customer good will, creating bad press and probably reducing customer tolerance for current and future franchise problems.

People are increasingly sick of all of this. There has been blowback across industries in most if not all sectors. And in an echo of the first battle, video games are once again a theater in the broader culture war.

posted by Open Blogger at 11:00 AM

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