COD4 man gets cross with Activision exec

By Robert Purchese Published 10 November, 2008

Fed up of "bulls***" from "super douche".

Call of Duty 4 community manager Robert Bowling has raged at Activision "senior super douche" Noah Heller for "pulling s*** out of his ass".

Heller, producer for COD: World at War, had been using COD4 as a reference point in interviews, you see. And Bowling doesn't think Heller knows what he's talking about.

"A rule of thumb I like to use is: when promoting your game. Promote your game. Don't compare it to another game, or reference what other games did in the past, pitch your game," writes Bowling on his IAMfourzerotwo blog.

"Can you guys please stop interviewing this guy [and] talk to someone who actually works on the dev team at Treyarch and knows what the f*** they're talking about. Not Senior Super Douche Noah Heller from Activision - who apparently has never played the game and doesn't even work at the developer.

"I can't take another Google alert of garbage coming through my inbox with bulls*** quotes from this guy," he adds.

Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War releases for PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii and DS this Friday.

Whether or not the gritty World War II shooter can live up to the lofty precedent set by Infinity Ward and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare remains to be seen. World at War does have Nazi zombies in, though.

Head over to our recent hands-on impressions of Call of Duty: World at War to find out more. Oh and Noah Heller was the man leading the press event. What a coincidence.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (44) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Bealsy #1 3 years ago

    he sounds a little peeved

  • bad09 #2 3 years ago

    You go girl!

    Fair point though, sell it on it's own merits not COD4. It does actually have it's own merits and it is quite good!

    / a dog barks and bad09 scarpers!!
    Edited by 1 at 10/11/08 @ 10:35

  • Thunderbolt #3 3 years ago

    Nice, nothing better than a good fight

    Much better that the usual PR guff and hyperbole that usually spews from their mouths

  • jonsaan #4 3 years ago

    Handbags!

  • Fab4 #5 3 years ago

    It usually takes a lot for 402 to lose his cool.

  • Les #6 3 years ago

    Another display of the immaturity of the video game industry...

  • metalangel #7 3 years ago

    Thing is, you can just refer to CoD4 constantly given that CoD: Woof at War is little more than a WW2-themed reskin of it. Undoubtely at the behest of those "senior super douches" at Activision who realized they would make a lot more profit off a TC of an existing popular game than funding another risky yet more original product (as seen in the unfairly reviled CoD3).

  • Fab4 #8 3 years ago

    " Another display of the immaturity of the video game industry..."

    He is right though. This Heller comes across as a right douche. Its the same guy who said BIA:HH was just another shitty WW2 game. Plus, he is so fucking wrong about WaW...its the first CoD that requires you to have multiple, centre-mass hits with the bolt actions...not the other way around.

  • Razz #9 3 years ago

    Super douche! :D

  • Les #10 3 years ago

    "He is right though."

    That's not the point. There are other, mature ways of settling disputes.

  • bad09 #11 3 years ago

    "That's not the point. There are other, mature ways of settling disputes."

    Les stop pulling s*** out of your ass, you super douche! ;)

  • Les #12 3 years ago

    "Les stop pulling s*** out of your ass, you super douche! ;) "

    I rest my case... ;)

  • Darren #13 3 years ago

    Re: COD: World at War - I noticed that GAME started processing my pre-order and taking the money *last* Friday, a week before the game's release *this* Friday. Very suspicious. I can't help wondering if that is bad omen and that game won't actually be very good. I mean it *is* by Treyarch, a developer with a dubious reputation IMO, plus we have someone at Activision promoting the new game with constant references to COD4... if the new game was that good they'd be singing the praises of World at War, right? :?

  • butler` #14 3 years ago

    I can see why he's annoyed, but isn't calling him a "super douche" a step too far?

  • metalangel #15 3 years ago

    In that case Darren, if you haven't played the "beta" yet, don't.

  • Fab4 #16 3 years ago

    They refer to CoD4 because it uses the same engine, and the MP is basically a reskin of modern warfare.

  • coojam #17 3 years ago

    Sonic the Hedgehog is just a reskin of Mario

  • beckyh #18 3 years ago

    That guy is being an idiot. CoD4 was highly successful and given that the CoD5 uses the same engine then there are going to be comparisons and references.
    He should be thankful his game is so memorable that people want to talk about it still. Sounds like this is a cover for a different problem going on. A conflict between the two men over something entirely different, because I doubt very much most people would give a shit about comparisons and see them as a negative thing.

  • space_ace #19 3 years ago

    medic!

  • dadrester #20 3 years ago

    ... Sounds like this is a cover for a different problem going on. A conflict between the two men over something entirely different...

    The exec is Robert Redford, and 402 is Woody Harrelson, and 402's missus is Demi Moore. There was an Indecent Proposal made.

  • photoboy #21 3 years ago

    What is a community manager? It sounds like the self-important title of a forum moderator...

  • T4RG4 #22 3 years ago

    Thing is - the community guy (king forum mod) at IW isnt part of the 'dev team' either so is he protecting his own work or the work of others? Hmm. He's taking it too personally. Then again, lots of publisher types talk crap about the games you make, so its about time someone spoke out ;)
    Edited by 1 at 10/11/08 @ 12:33

  • local_celebrity #23 3 years ago

    For someone whose job title is "Director of Communications", this is hardly diplomatic or professional.

    It wouldn't surprise me if Infinity Ward greenlighted these comments, though.

    They're worried about the damage COD:WaW will inflict on their beloved franchise. And rightly so, if that multiplayer beta was anything to go by. Those maps were incredibly dreary. I've had more more memorable experiences in Esso petrol stations.




  • thesombrerokid #24 3 years ago

    emm what makes you think this doesn't happen in every other industry known to man?

    open up paper clips monthly and the first article will be "Boss man doesn't have a clue about the clippety clip 3000! he's a wanker!"

  • CHAZBIGPOTATO #25 3 years ago

    Great publicity stunt

  • makeamazing #26 3 years ago

    I think they wont be community manager for long..... lol

  • Blackthorned #27 3 years ago

    I thought it was just one big happy Call Of Duty family?!

    Call Of Duty 6: Operation Super Douche

  • db3 #28 3 years ago

    I'm sure someone also keeps mentioning that Treyarch used COD 4 for QoS.....worried.

  • ED209 #29 3 years ago

    "What an unprofessional man the CO4 chap is."

    I know you are, but what am i?
    (answer: a super douche with sh** up my ass.)

  • The_Surreal #30 3 years ago

    Surely this is complete career suicide!!??!!

    Couldn't Heller now call for IW to give 402 the sack if they ever wanna make another COD!?!?

  • Apologie #31 3 years ago

    he's got a point there, and he's right, the Activision guy should STFU.
    Edited by 1 at 10/11/08 @ 14:18

  • actionfitz #32 3 years ago

    the guy has a point tbh.
    if your gonna interview someone about a game shouldn't it be someone who has a clue?
    If it was me i could probably come up with more colorful language than 'super douche' - though the subsequent libel case would prob wallet-rape me :)

  • kangarootoo #33 3 years ago

    "Another display of the immaturity of the video game industry..."

    "He is right though."

    Irrelevant.

    This is a bizarre thing for a professional spokesperson to say. Was he drunk when writing his blog? It doesn't matter how valid your gripe is, washing your laundry in public like that is unprofessional and shows someone not in control of their emotions.

    There is a difference between your public face and your private face. If this guy wanted to rant he should have done it anonymously on some forum somewhere. The nature of his job means his blog is his professional face, whether its technically his own private blog or not.
    Edited by 1 at 10/11/08 @ 15:22

  • The_Surreal #34 3 years ago

    kangarootoo is right. This is completely unprofessional.

  • Apologie #35 3 years ago

    COD5 will be better then COD4... the nazi zombies depreciative quote is stupid given the fact that COD 4 had mindless arabes and russians too...

  • the_mtfr #36 3 years ago

    @kangarootoo, the blog is not an official face, it's the only way a guy up high in a hierarchy can spill his brain out without having to put his suit + tie on when sitting at the keyboard. An official face is an official statement of the company. And those are not done on blogs, but on corporate web sites and letters to press.

    Having said this and also having had enough bull**** from corporate suits with big mouths who know nothing about what they're talking about, I really appreciate this Infinity Ward guy's frankness.

  • the_mtfr #37 3 years ago

    @The_Surreal, Infinity Ward don't belong to Activision so that Super Douche could sack the IW guy only by peer pressure, or however it's called... exerting influence maybe. And maybe IW just don't want to kiss anyone's ass just to be able to do one more game in a series. With the money they made selling millions, they should have the spine now and I hope they do.

    This reminds me of the freshly happened Halo-next-project presentation at some game conference where Microsoft stopped Bungie at the last moment from showing their project. The big asshole suit at Microsoft said, "I talked to the guy-at-Bungie and he laughed and said, sure no problem, just a sign of the industry growing" (how ridiculous does the story he made up sounds :D). Then the aforementioned guy-at-Bungie talked and said that's just bull**** and Bungie is actually pissed off.
    Edited by 1 at 10/11/08 @ 22:57

  • kangarootoo #38 3 years ago

    @the_mtfr

    "An official face is an official statement of the company. And those are not done on blogs, but on corporate web sites and letters to press."

    I can't really agree I'm afraid. I hear what you are saying, and from a "is this an official company statement or not" I take your point. However, this is purely an issue of professionalism for me. And professionalism extends (or bloody well should extend) beyond the bounds of your office.

    This guy is known amongst the gaming community, and the nature of his job kind of makes everything he does on the web part of his professional face. He didn't write anonymously, and he called an employee of what is essentially a partner company a douche bag ffs.

    That is not a professional way to conduct yourself. Saying "well, I wrote it in my own time" is not good enough. It was a bloody childish thing to write, and its going to make life more difficult for him and his colleagues. Whether it was written on company notepaper or not is mostly irrelevant to me, I deal with the realities of life, and what he did was foolish.


    "Having said this and also having had enough bull**** from corporate suits with big mouths who know nothing about what they're talking about"

    I say again, this is irrelevant. I am not for one second saying he didn't have a legitimate gripe with the actions of Noah Heller. I am simply saying that his response was beneath him. I can only imagine this happening in the games industry, unfortunately.


    "I really appreciate this Infinity Ward guy's frankness."

    There are many ways that someone can make a frank statement. And there is nothing wrong with that. But are we actually suggesting that calling other grown adults names such as "senior super douche" is the best way to do it? What are we here, 12 years old? SEriously.
    Edited by 1 at 11/11/08 @ 09:46

  • The_Surreal #39 3 years ago

    @the_mtfr

    I disagree man. IW made COD what it is today, and Activision could call for 402 to be fired if they wanna continue making COD games. Everyone knows that Activision don't own IW.

    I know people may say that it doesn't matter, IW could go off and do they're own games, but you can't tell me that all 11 million people who bought the game know who the hell IW are, it's only the hardcore bunch. It would be an uphill struggle for them to start again with nothing but new IPs.

  • Fab4 #40 3 years ago

    I don't know where this "Activision don't own IW" stuff came from...they most certainly do own them.

    http://www. gamespot.com/news/6077624.html

  • kangarootoo #41 3 years ago

    So even more reason for Robert Bowling to question what on earth he thought he was doing.

  • the_mtfr #42 3 years ago

    Crap, I shouldn't have missed that news. Now this changes the story a bit, I could come around and say the same thing as kangarootoo.

    @The_Surreal if IW were actually not owned by Activision I would still have argued. Maybe would have said something like, even after making millions, you think it's not worth that they try to switch from CoD? What you're saying sounds more like they are doomed by their own success: if a company manages to have a bestseller game, even after 3 best selling games in the series, they are forced to continue doing it? Hell, I think it's the perfect time to lose it! Money stashed and "from the makers of Call of Duty". But since Activision owns IW... f***!

  • The_Surreal #43 3 years ago

    Well I did not know that Activision owned IW either, but now that information has come to light, 402 is even more of a dumb bitch!
    I hope he does get fired because I think he's acted like a cock in the past too.

    @the_mtfr

    I think we should agree to disagree, I don't see why IW wouldn't want to continue working with a franchise that they have done so well with. I don't think it's very good practice to make such a massively successfull game in a franchise and then quite a year later.

  • the_mtfr #44 3 years ago

    @The_Surreal, OK man I agree to disagree on that :) In the end it's their decision anyway. They'll milk the cow like you said I guess. Too bad though not to use such a hugely talented team on some fresh ideas.