Boycott Modern Warfare 2
This one may feel like a stretch at first, but it also feels very relevant today. Bear with us.
Back in 2009, Infinity Ward did something very unpopular. On the eve of the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, one of the most eagerly anticipated first-person shooters in recent history, it revealed that the PC version would no longer use dedicated servers. Instead, the game would use a peer-to-peer technology similar to the console versions. This was a huge departure for the PC gaming community, which had always used dedicated servers - in essence, a PC in a server farm somewhere running an instance of the game that 'client' gamers connected to, ensuring consistency and stability of experience. This was considered the optimal way to facilitate multiplayer in PC games, not least because it gave the community some semblance of ownership over the experience.
We recall this episode very well for a couple of reasons. The first is that, if we remember correctly, community manager Robert Bowling announced the change live on a community podcast, leading to stunned silence from his hosts at what should have been a moment of great excitement for them. We seem to remember voices cracking and audible disbelief hanging over the rest of the conversation, although we may be hamming it up.
The second reason is that Infinity Ward stuck to its guns. The PC game shipped this way. And in response, a large number of PC gamers decided to show their distaste for the decision by organizing a boycott. They could do so visibly, too, by setting up a Steam Group called "Boycott Modern Warfare 2 (WE WANT DEDICATED SERVERS)", which attracted nearly a thousand members.
There was only one small problem: Steam's publicly visible groups allow you to see what their members are playing. And when the launch of the game rolled around, guess what?
It turns out it's not just game companies that end up making embarrassing u-turns.
