When Did “Casual Gamer” Become an Insult?

The Modern Warfare 4 beta is here, and all of us over here at the Nerdcast are having an absolute blast…and apparently that makes us part of the problem.

As streamers and competitive players argue over slower movement, shrinking skill gaps, and Call of Duty “catering to casual dads,” Nate started wondering when casual became a dirty word in gaming.

So, we’re following the rabbit hole; from Tac Sprint and movement demons to Twitch, esports, and the millions of regular people who just want to hop online with their friends after work.

Maybe Call of Duty isn’t getting too casual.

Maybe we’ve forgotten that sometimes playing a video game is allowed to just be fun.

Be sure after the episode to come join us in The Lobby on Discord and tell us where you land: slower, tactical COD or full-send movement demon?

Link to The Lobby: https://discord.gg/4QugKGfaV

Stay Gold. Nerd Bold.

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