Speaking in light to negative fan feedback to Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Activision’s Eric Hirshberg has insisted the multi-million selling first-person shooter franchise “has never been stronger.”
"We’ve made a great game [Black Ops 3] that our fans love and that’s demonstrated by the fact that our monthly active users are at all-time highs," said Hirshberg. "Season Pass is at an all-time high and, in fact, we expect to deliver the most map packs ever to players with Black Ops III."
"Right now, the franchise has never been stronger. We have more people playing Black Ops III, a game that takes place in the future with boost jumps and fictitious weapons and all the rest, than any game in our history."
The executive’s comments come in light of news that Infinite Warfare’s reveal trailer has amassed an alarming number of downvotes on YouTube, with over 426,000 ‘thumbs down’ set against just over 196,000 ‘thumbs up’ votes at the time of writing.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is due out on PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One on November 4, 2016. The game takes place in a futuristic setting and introduces space combat for the first time in the long-running franchise.
In a first for developer Infinity Ward, the game will also boast its own dedicated Zombies campaign, which takes place in an alternate setting to the main campaign. Unlike last year’s Black Ops 3 however, it won’t support campaign co-op.
The Legacy Edition of Infinite Warfare will also contain a remastered version of 2007’s critically acclaimed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.