Activision CEO Addresses Infinite Warfare Haters Behind Epic YouTube Dislike Crusade

Hate is alive and well in the online community. If companies, movies studios or even game studios put out a product that ticks off the wrong group of people, the backlash can come swiftly. We saw that earlier this week as the new Ghostbusters reboot became the most disliked movie trailer in YouTube history. Now, gamers are drinking gallons of Haterade to express their displeasure with the Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare trailer that debuted on Monday.

Like we saw with the Ghostbusters trailer, the online community organized a massive “dislike” campaign to trash the upcoming “sci-fi” title. As of this writing, the reveal trailer has nearly 9.2 million views, almost 202,000 likes and a whopping 461,000 dislikes.

The hate is absolutely pouring through the comments sections with cries from upset gamers. “Call of Duty: Infinite dislike” reads the current top comment while another writes, “Call of Battlefront? Hmm, no thanks. The only quality thing here is the Bowie's classic. ”

Some, like William Rochus, rightfully point out that people shouldn't jump to conclusions before even laying hands on the game; “Why do so many people hate on this game before it's even released? I could be a decent game .”

But the overall tone from the comments (and obviously the dislikes) is one of disappointment with the trailer and the direction that Activision is going with the Call of Duty series. So, none other than Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg has responded to the criticism, stating:

First of all you got to love the passion of gamers. This is an industry like no other, and a fan base like no other and we love that our fans treat this franchise like it’s their own and have such strong points of view about it. There just aren’t many entertainment franchises on Earth that can generate the kind of passion that Call of Duty can and that’s a good thing.

Secondly, of course we know that there are people in our community who are nostalgic for the boots-on-the-ground-style gameplay, and that’s why we made Modern Warfare Remastered. But we also have millions of people in our community who want to have new innovative experiences in the game each year and Infinite Warfare is going to deliver that.

Hirshberg also pointed out that gamers tend to have a short memory when it comes to how they initially feel about upcoming games, and how they respond when the title actually makes it to market. Such is the case with Black Ops II.

“The reveal trailer for Black Ops II, which took the franchise into the future for the first time, had the most dislikes of any reveal trailer we had ever made at that time,” added Hirshberg. “And that, of course, went on to become our most successful games ever.”

So what do you think, HotHardware readers? Do these irate gamers have a right to be upset about Infinite Warfare, or should they just take a chill pill and calm the heck down?