Part 8: Bridging the Gap Between Casual and Hardcore Fans

Tim

On that point with franchising teams, how do you see esports like Call of Duty becoming more mainstream?

Boble

I think it starts with getting valuable developer support. If you look at what some of the other esports out there are doing, right when you load up the client of the game, you see the big tournaments that are going on, you see where you can go watch them, and you earn rewards watching.

For Call of Duty to hit mainstream, it helps to bridge accessibility from pro play to casual play. It helps with getting visibility out there. I'm sure the majority of these casuals that play Call of Duty probably don't even know this type of stuff exists.

Then you have no idea what type of talent is out there. The best player in the world might still be in a public match, but they don't even know that the next step exists.

I think franchising will create more opportunities for these types of players to see what's out there and then give them a path they can follow to potentially become a pro in the future.

Tim

What is the best way to bridge the gap between casual and hardcore fans?

Boble

I would start with in-game advertisements. We had a really cool thing in Black Ops 3, where they had the message of the day. If we had a big-league match or tournament coming up, that would immediately pop up on your screen. If you wanted to watch it, you could click a button and watch directly from your PlayStation 4. We need to do more stuff like that.

Nowadays, Twitch, Mixer, YouTube, all these streaming platforms are huge. So we need to create a way for people to link those accounts to Call of Duty accounts.

We can give them little drops, little cosmetic items. It seems like all the rage right now for these casual players across all games. They want stuff in the game that looks cool, for lack of a better word. They want their character to stand out, and they want all sorts of customizations to build up their personal character.

One idea that's been rattling in the back of my mind is we've had all of these Call of Duty Championships. There should be something in-game to commemorate all of these champions.

Having permanent calling cards, emblems, or something to recognize these players or teams would be huge. I don't like to compare Call of Duty a lot to other games. Since some of them are played on PC, it's easier to implement some of this stuff, but when I look at a game like Counter-Strike, when they have their majors, their players have their own personal autographs in the game.

A lot of people get drops from watching the Twitch stream and you can get signed camos for your guns. Looking at some of what these other esports do, I think it's not out of the realm of possibility to implement some of these features into Call of Duty.

We need to start going down that path. I'm hoping franchising can open that door a little bit because this is something the players have wanted for a very long time. More competitive stuff like that to help get more eyes on the scene.

Tim

I remember back in one of the Black Ops games there was a great customization feature to build your own emblems. It would be cool to have custom emblems or stickers back with some franchise flair. Do you believe franchise teams make the game appeal to a wider audience?

Boble

I wouldn't necessarily say the teams make the game more appealing, but I would say we can draw in a lot of outside people who might not necessarily play Call of Duty.

I think part of the appeal of the franchising model is that being city-based, there are a lot of fans out there that will cheer for some of these teams, due to the fact that they live in the same state. They live in the same city. I think you find that association with a lot of traditional sports as well.

I would say it's more on the developers. They're the ones creating the game. It's on them to make it appealing.