Pros Vs. Bros | Black Ops 7 Has Competitive & Casual Players Divided

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 cinematic promotional screen capture.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is only about a month and a half away, and as the release gets closer, more and more information comes out regarding the title. More screenshots, more gameplay, more everything.

It seems as though the more information there is about Black Ops 7, the more there seems to be a divide between two of the distinct factions of Call of Duty players: competitive players and casual players.

With the Black Ops 7 beta only a few days away and going to be the first time almost any potential player gets to try the game out for themselves, it's going to be interesting seeing how the conversation around the game shifts or remains the same.

What's The Difference Between Competitive & Casual Players In Call of Duty?

To understand fully why competitive players and casual players would react differently, one needs to know how each group thinks and what each group wants from a Call of Duty title. COD is not like most other games.

In League of Legends, for example, casual players are playing the same game that competitive players are, they're just not trying as hard, not focused on a meta as much, and are more interested in laid-back fun than in winning. Still, it's the same map, with the same roster of champions, and the same items, with the same objective and the same number of players. It's still just League of Legends. It's not the game that's different; it's the mentality of the players. Almost every game is like that; that's the way it should be.

COD, however, is different in that competitive and casual players are often playing an entirely different game. There are dozens of weapons, perks, attachments, scorestreaks, maps, game modes, and more that casual players will see all the time every day, and a competitive player will never, ever see and may not even know some of that stuff is in the game if they don't also play public matches a lot.

Casual players have a dozen or more game modes available to them on every map in the game. Competitive players have three game modes available to them on typically no more than four to six maps. Casual players may encounter fifteen different guns in a single game, and competitive players may not encounter more than two or three guns the entire year.

Competitive Call of Duty and casual Call of Duty are very different experiences for very different people. On top of all of that, there are still the general differences in mentality that apply to competitive vs casual players, just like they would in every game or every sport in life.

The Competitive Reaction vs. the Casual Reaction To Call of Duty Black Ops 7

It's worth noting at the top that there are competitive fans who aren't excited for this game, and there are casual fans who are excited for this game. It's not a 100% this side loves it and this side hates it situation.

The competitive reaction has been largely positive.

OpTic Methodz, a former pro player and current content creator, is attending COD Next and playing the game as of writing this article. His reaction has been overwhelmingly positive to the game. The reaction to his reaction, though?

The more interesting reaction comes from the top one above.

"The cycle continues lmfaooo..." - @ZeroDark003

Every year a Call of Duty title is announced, people get excited about it, it comes out, there's a ton of hype, the hype lasts about a month or two, the new car smell wears off, people say it's trash and they're never buying a COD again, then the next COD gets leaked/revealed and they're hyped again. The circle of life.

Normally, it would be smart to agree with BravoSix003 entirely, but this year has been different. There are people, like Optic Methodz, who are excited for the game, but it's not been this overwhelmingly blind optimism and support that's typical for COD this time of year. To understand why Black Ops 7 has such differing opinions from each side, one has to understand why the reaction to BO7 has been so negative from the broader gaming community.

Why Are Competitive & Casual Fans Reacting So Differently To Black Ops 7?

Black Ops 7 is the most poorly received COD announcement since Infinite Warfare in 2016. That's a big deal. This is the part of the year when COD excitement and anticipation are supposed to be at an all-time high, and yet, it's just not.

Black Ops 7 is basically just Black Ops 6 again, but with a few minor gameplay tweaks and different maps. For the vast majority of casual players, this means it's going to be the same feeling game just in different locations. Black Ops 6 got people excited and then dropped the ball.

Multiplayer map "Raid" originally from Black Ops 2 that's been remastered for Black Ops 7 | Treyarch

Casual players don't want another Black Ops 6; they want something that's going to take the game forward in a positive way. They want the removal of SBMM, the significant toning down of over-the-top cosmetics, and fewer microtransactions.

On the flip side, BO6 from a competitive perspective was awful, but it was only awful because of the map design. If Black Ops 6 had good maps, many competitive fans believe it could've been a phenomenal competitive experience with smooth gunplay and enjoyable movement. For competitive players, BO7 is essentially BO6 again, but with different maps (a handful of which are known to be competitively viable from Black Ops 2).

What This Divide Means For Call of Duty & COD Esports?

This is not a great year for COD to have a title poorly received by a casual audience. Call of Duty has real competition for the first time in years in the form of Battlefield 6. A game with equally iconic and nostalgic feels for many, and that is coming out a full month early, with four weeks to capture as many potential COD players as possible.

Every announcement about Black Ops 7 so far has had Battlefield 6 mentioned in some way, and COD Next is no exception.

Battlefield 6 is here, and it's likely not going anywhere. While competitive players may be excited, if COD loses the casual audience, that's going to hurt the Call of Duty league's viewership, the Challengers' viewership, and impact how much attention and interaction COD gets by the general gaming community.