FPS Developers Support Call of Duty Subscriptions

[Tom Goldman]

FPS Developers Support Call of Duty Subscriptions

A smattering of developers across the first-person shooter spectrum have come out saying that a subscription-based Call of Duty would be acceptable, if justified.

Industry veterans agree: Call of Duty [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Black-Ops-Xbox-360/dp/B003JVKHEQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1281841849&sr=8-1] subscriptions would be a good thing. But wait, don't explode just yet, because they're mostly referring to a separate and totally unique Call of Duty title that would be infused with MMOG-like features or a microtransaction-based game.

Bobby Kotick came out saying that he'd like to combine the Call of Duty franchise with subscriptions somehow and as soon as possible Gamasutra [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/101503-Kotick-Wants-Call-of-Duty-Subscriptions-Tomorrow] interviewed various developers on the topic, and most of them agreed that a Call of Duty that would attract monthly subscribers would be great, though Activision charging simply for multiplayer would be a huge mistake.

Alan Wilson, VP of ArmA [http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Floor-Pc/dp/B002IYR0KO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1281841840&sr=8-2] developer Bohemia Interactive echoed Wilson's sentiment, saying his company would only implement subscriptions if "the value offered to [players] is adequate."

Mark Long of Zombie Studios, known for Blacklight: Tango Down, goes a step further and seems voracious for a new Call of Duty MMOG-style game, saying: "I know I'll get flamed for this, but I'm going defend Bobby Kotick here. ... Merging [business models of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft [http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Battle-Chest-Mac/dp/B000H96C9M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1281841914&sr=8-2]] makes a ton of sense when the vast majority of Call of Duty players are playing online. How is the fanbase going to respond? If there was an MMOFPS version of Call of Duty with World of Warcraft-quality RPG elements under the hood, I'd bet it would be the biggest game in history. I'd play it. I'd play the fuck out it."

Quake Live was recently forced to offer a subscription plan [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102655-id-Software-Unveils-Quake-Live-Subscriptions] to become sustainable, and id's Steve nix says "new revenue models will continue to emerge" for shooters. Id's subscription plans offer access to new maps and other abilities such as setting up servers and creating clans.

What most people need to understand about the situation is that Activision isn't going to charge people to play Call of Duty through an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3... ahem... most likely. What it will do, if anything, is figure out a way to get players to pay a subscription or to engage in microtransactions for extra content to monetize the series even further, which ideally would not become a slippery slope. And, as Mark Long says, a World of Call of Duty would probably be something worth paying $15 a month for.

Source: Gamasutra [http://gamasutra.com/view/news/29877/InDepth_What_FirstPerson_Shooter_Creators_Think_About_Subscriptions.php]

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[Cynical skeptic]

Thats nice.

Problem is they don't want to make an actual online experience worth paying for. They want people to pay for what they currently get free without any real changes or improvements. peer to peer networked hosts to clients for $[whatever] a month.

Not to mention, a mmofps isn't exactly viable outside of places like japan and korea. Too much inconsistency in the infrastructure and too much sprawl in the population.

 

[Space Jawa]

Alternatively, some of them secretly hope that by charging subscription fees, Activision will drive players away from Call of Duty to other FPSs, preferably theirs.

 

[MrSnugglesworth]

No! Don't do this FPS's!


I love you!


Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!


OT: Looks like I'm a big fan of RPGs now.

 

[Balobo]

Alternatively, some of them secretly hope that by charging subscription fees, Activision will drive players away from Call of Duty to other FPSs, preferably theirs.

ninja'd.

But yeah, they just want CoD to have less sales so their games become more popular. lolol

 

[The Amazing Tea Alligator]

I hate how this is happening. I blame it on one thing - MMOs.

MMOs - get out. Just leave. Nobody wants you. Your idea of fun is just getting better gear over and over again with tiresome spreadsheet gameplay. You're addicting as hell, and less fun than watching paint dry. A shallow perversion of the RPG genre. Just.... fuck you.

*deep breath*

I like VALVe - mostly looking at TF2 here, and completely forgetting about L4D. Keep being awesome guys.

 

[Dragunai]

Bleh, this is just the next phase in the games industries attempts to drain money out of us. Bungie has already started this trend by locking out 80% of the online multiplayer content by forcing you to buy the DLC before it will let you play the content you rightfully own and now COD is doing the same thing but more blatantly.

Its pathetic tbh and when everyone wakes up from the MW2 stupor they they all say "Hang on, £5 a month to get ganked by assholes with better guns than me? .... K im going back to wow cause at least on there I can call in lvl80 mates to avenge me!"

Ain't gonna fly.

 

[InnerRebellion]

Alternatively, some of them secretly hope that by charging subscription fees, Activision will drive players away from Call of Duty to other FPSs, preferably theirs.

Ninja'd....but I hate the idea of paying anyway, why buy a game you have to constantly pay-to-play?

 

[Blue_vision]

Alternatively, some of them secretly hope that by charging subscription fees, Activision will drive players away from Call of Duty to other FPSs, preferably theirs.

I was thinking that.

ANOTHER CoD, they suggest? Based solely around user subscriptions? I mean, how much money does Activision really need?

 

[Antari]

Considerig the thousands of other fps' out there. I can miss the subscription based one. Nice try, but no.

 

[Thedayrecker]

I guess I'm just going to have to keep ignoring FPS's

 

[Johnnyallstar]

Logically, if they're going to charge a subscription, they should be coming out with NEW (not rehashed or similar) map packs, game modes, weapon sets, items, vehicles, etc etc etc every 4-6 weeks. Otherwise there very little justification for it.

 

[BritishWeather]

To be honest I'd prefer a balanced ever expanding multiplayer and co-op to a unbalanced and repetitive online. Cod Mw2 would be so much better with new weapons, cool game modes and monthly map add-ons. For a COD fanatic an mmog Cod would be worth it, people just don't known it yet.

 

[Therumancer]

Sounds like ridiculous greed to me. There is nothing wrong with paying your $60 for a game that includes free access to all the content and multiplayer as part of that $60 price tag. That's what we've been doing so far.

The bit about "microtransactions" and the like only sounds reasonable in light of all the DLC that people are already paying for.

Generally speaking what they are liable to do is make you pay for the game, and then have to keep paying for every little update in order to remain competitive. A "Call Of Duty MMO" is pretty much "War Rock" which we've already seen and by all accounts didn't end well.

See, the bottom line is that for all our complaining us gamers line up like sheep to buy whatver the gaming industry churns out, and support any scam that they throw out with our money even if we bleet about it. You might hate DLC, or paying $15 for a map pack, but you STILL pay for it. People complain about how they hate Bobby Kotick and his policies, but when "Starcraft 2" comes out, people line up to pay $10 above the going rate for a game they know is 1/3rd of the story.

Generally speaking saying that this "sounds reasonable" is mostly in comparison to other horrible things they could be trying to do. It's sort of like a coke addict saying it's reasonable to only cut his nose candy 50% with baby powder compared to cutting it 75% with powdered milk... and that's arguably what we're acting like, a bunch of addicted junkies who are willing to give in to the ever increasing demands of our dealers since we've been hooked.

It won't make a differance in the end, but I do ask that even shooter fans think long and hard before buying the next "Call Of Duty" game. If it succeeds with any additional ways to make you pay it will just get worse. Sure, you might miss the next evolution in game play, but new shooters come out every year or two. Unless they go truely "back to the basics" pay wise, it's not in the interests of any players to support any kind of FPS subscription or micro transaction gimmick.

 

[soapyshooter]

They can do whatever they want, I'll just stop playing. As long as TF2 is left out of this crap. Its the only FPS i'll need if shit hits the fan

 

[viranimus]

I said it before in a similar but different themed thread. There is simply too much that would need to be in a shooter that isnt present in shooters across the board that could justify having a monthly sub fee. A massive degree of work would have to be done before it would be justifiable.

Perhaps the FPS devs need to focus on developing the level of content that could justify a subscription first, before they start wanting to claim money for it.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Just say you're going to make a CoD MMO and get it over with you twats.
Bliz didn't make this big a deal over WoW, they just got on with it.

 

[Pendragon9]

Escapist Readers - One the biggest collection of freeloaders on the net. Bring it on CoD!! Subscriptions leads to more quality and more development in most games.

Oh yes, because spending upwards of 600 dollars for a console or PC and then 60-100 dollars on a game totally says we're cheapskates.

I would report you for trolling, but you're not even doing it right.

 

[spike0918]

I would like to point out that, as a ground rule Call of Duty multiplayer is always broken in the first few months.

So you want me to believe Treyarch or whatever is left of Infinity Ward could balance a game that has new additions on a regular basis? Really?

Also, obligatory fuck you to Kotick and Activision.