Activision CMO Calls 'CoD Tax' the Cost of a Long-Running Series
The marketing chief's own framing ties the series' muted reception problem to its scale and seniority, which is a striking admission from the publisher rather than an outside critique.
Reporting from 1 source: Game Spark.
Activision Chief Marketing Officer Tyler Bahl said on the October 15 episode of 'The Game Business' that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is 'being subjected to a Call of Duty tax,' a phrase he used to describe low attention and high expectations placed on the series. Bahl noted more than 20 years have passed since the first CoD in 2003 and said 4,500 staff work on the game. Modern Warfare 4 releases October 23.
Bahl used the phrase during a segment titled 'How to regain fans' trust in CoD: Behind the scenes of the CoD: MW4 revival plan.' Asked whether existing game media now cover CoD less than before while influencers cover new releases more, he said there is still attention and reporting, but that reviews and reactions carry what he calls the 'Call of Duty tax.'
He attributed the situation to expectations built into a series with more than two decades behind it. The episode also covered Modern Warfare 4's positioning as the concluding chapter of the Modern Warfare story and a return to Nintendo platforms.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.