Med Call of Duty: WWII vender Activision ryggen til fremtidskrig, og snur i stedet nesa mot historiske slagmarker. Mye tyder på at fansen liker denne endringen, og blant dem finner vi en historiker.
Det er Martin Morgan, som selv har intervjuet over 2000 krigsveteraner og skrevet to bøker om andre verdenskrig, som i det nyeste nummeret av Edge (#307) forteller at Call of Duty: WWII godt kan bli den største dekningen av krigen i nyere tid.
Om spillets potensielle innflytelse sier han dette:
"The living memory of this conflict is receding very quickly. Just this past week, three veterans that I've interviewed have died, and that happens every week.
There are going to be more and more people who, through no fault of their own, are just not familiar with the subject. Now we're bringing the subject matter to a very large audience of people who have no living memory of the war. They can't remember an elderly grandfather who fought in it. There's no context aside from what they might learn about it and public education in the US just sort of abdicates responsibility for the subject.
I've written two books; nobody read them. We're living in a world where people read less and less. What's going to replace it? Projects like this [Call of Duty: WWII], that have strong emotional themes, and also strong educational themes.
I have this looming sense that this [Call of Duty: WWII] is going to be big. It may be the biggest thing that has ever happened for this subject. I'm not saying that because I've become a Sledgehammer Games zombie who just spouts off propaganda. I say it because one thing we already definitely know is that this is going to be big. Band of Brothers was released in 2001; Saving Private Ryan was released 20 years ago. There was no social media universe back then, and now there is."
Tror du historikeren har rett?