Call of Duty deserves the hate it gets, because quite simply it's killing innovation in the video game industry. Sure, there are games that do innovate, but most people hardly ever hear about them. It's just CoD, Halo (I actually like Halo though, because that is pretty interesting) and Battlefield that stay in the mainstream. I hardly hear people talk about anything else. Take this game for example, Guns of Icarus:
Now I know this probably isn't everyone's cup of tea, but then neither is CoD. I managed to come across this game by chance, and I really want it (unfortunately my PC isn't good enough) because it looks fantastic, looks extremely fun to play, and most importantly it's very innovative. Games like this deserve much more attention than games like Call of Duty, that do practically nothing in terms of change (I've seen mods that do more).
What's more, it's only £7.49 on steam. I'd be more willing to spend £40 on this gem than pay even a single pound to activision for everybody's favorite reskin.