Treyarch's Olin Blasts Pundits And Angry Fans

Treyarch's Call of Duty: Black Ops effectively silenced the skeptics that wondered if the franchise could survive the departure of Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella. The game has already racked up over a billion dollars in sales already, and Treyarch is keeping up the game's momentum with the just-released First Strike DLC pack.

Despite the company's success, Treyarch's community manager Joseph Olin has some some harsh words for the gaming media and fans, who he feels can sometimes be "contrarian" and overly negative. When asked what he felt was the biggest problem facing the game industry today, Olin responded:

"Personally, as a community manager who lives in the media or social media world every day, I think the social culture of video games is moving in a more negative direction as technology and social media continues to grow," he said. "Rather than growing with it, the trend seems to be devolving. More and more gamers seem to forget what this industry is all about.

"It’s a creative industry – the most creative form of entertainment in existence. Too many developers who try new things are getting burned by 'pundits' and angry entitled fans who look to be contrarian, sometimes simply for the sake of being contrarian. The only thing this attitude aims to achieve is stunt that creativity and innovation even further, which is something that no rational gamer looking to be entertained would want to do."

It's true that many corners of the Internet can be pretty harsh, but can you really blame fans and the media for stifling creativity in the industry? What do you think?

For more with Olin check out the full interview on Now Gamer.