Activision Adamant it Will Never Charge for Call of Duty Multiplayer

Logan Westbrook

Transform, Roll Out, Etc
Feb 21, 2008
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Activision Adamant it Will Never Charge for Call of Duty Multiplayer

The multiplayer experience is part of what you pay for when you buy a Call of Duty game, says Activision executive.

Call of Duty multiplayer will always be free. That's according the head of Activision Publishing, Eric Hirshberg, who refuted claims made by Michael Pachter that Activision would roll out premium subscriptions for online play.

Hirshberg said that multiplayer was an integral part of the Call of Duty experience, and not something that Activision was looking to monetize. He thought that Pachter's predictions were based on "meta-trends" in online interactions that didn't really apply to Call of Duty. He admitted that there was a shift in attitudes towards this kind of monetization, but said that it wasn't a bandwagon that Activision was looking to jump on.

These comments are likely to generate significant skepticism, but keep in mind that it's incredibly unlikely that Activision's decision is born of altruism. Multiplayer accounts for a large part of Call of Duty's popularity, so Activision is going to be reluctant to do anything to rock the boat, even if it will supposedly make the company more money.

Putting the multiplayer on the wrong side of a pay gate will not only have a negative impact on the install base, it reduces the audience for maps and other DLC. It's almost certain that Activision has done the math and come to the conclusion that it's more profitable to keep the multiplayer free.

Source: Industry Gamers [http://www.industrygamers.com/news/activision-we-will-never-ever-charge-for-call-of-duty-multiplayer/]


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The Cheezy One

Christian. Take that from me.
Dec 13, 2008
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Whats that on your feet, Activision? Are those flip-flops?
You shouldn't wear those while driving, you'll do a load of U-turns.
 

dududf

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Aug 31, 2009
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If they charge for multiplayer, then the cost of the game has to be very cheap, to accommodate this.

If they did both, they'd lose a metric butt ton of customers.
 

LawlessSquirrel

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Jun 9, 2010
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Well considering how overpriced the game is, it's probably a wise choice not to charge more for the part people are most likely buying it for. I'd imagine that could raise trust issues.

Wouldn't want to antagonize your market, Activision!
 

Danish rage

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Sep 26, 2010
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I can´t help to wonder what made all of you so negative. That´s sad.

Anyways OT, im glad to se in writing what i always knew.
 

tehroc

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Jul 6, 2009
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This article does not rule out a premium subscription. It only says that basic multiplayer will always be available.
 

Danish rage

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Sep 26, 2010
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9_6 said:
Danish rage said:
I can´t help to wonder what made all of you so negative. That´s sad.
Because it's activision.

well, come on! that´s not a valid argument matey. It´s circular thinking at best.

You´re intitled to have an oppinion about Activision. I just don´t get why they are paintet out as the devil.

Answer me this all of you?
If you got a great idea, wouldn´t you run with it for as long as it was fun to do and payed off?

I can´t think of one AAA DEV or PUB that hasn´t a stale or outdated game in there back catalogue. It´s not a Activison thing per say.

Everybody in the game buissnes is there to make money, don´t kid yourselfes.
 

Zenode

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Jan 21, 2009
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Is it ironic that at the bottom of the PC version with all those little facts it says in one of them

"Multiplayer: Free with every copy of Black Ops"
 
Feb 13, 2008
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http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.246868-Activision-Adamant-it-Will-Never-Charge-for-Call-of-Duty-Multiplayer
Call of Duty multiplayer will always be free.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102189-No-Subscriptions-for-Call-of-Duty-Multiplayer-Says-Activision
"Reports of a subscription membership in Modern Warfare 2 are not true," the statement read. "Activision has no plans to charge gamers to play Call of Duty multiplayer."
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.203461-Kotick-Wants-Call-of-Duty-Subscriptions-Tomorrow
Kotick added that this kind of service is "hopefully" coming, and that he thinks "audiences are clamoring for it."
Seriously Activision, if you're going to lie to us, at least get your facts straight.
 

carpathic

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Oct 5, 2009
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Oh my goodness, this appears to be a company thinking long term as opposed to short term. "Lets build and keep an audience that will rabidly continue to buy or product long term" rather than "let's soak these hosers for everything we can before they realize our games are not that innovative."

Awesome. Seriously!
 

Munchied Zombie

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Sep 22, 2009
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Zenode said:
Is it ironic that at the bottom of the PC version with all those little facts it says in one of them

"Multiplayer: Free with every copy of Black Ops"
Thats also on the 360 version. My mates and I thought that they were trying to imply that the multiplayer was something extra. Before the next COD when multiplayer was a premium rate add-on. Is that cynical?
 

Lord Beautiful

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Aug 13, 2008
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The_root_of_all_evil said:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.246868-Activision-Adamant-it-Will-Never-Charge-for-Call-of-Duty-Multiplayer
Call of Duty multiplayer will always be free.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102189-No-Subscriptions-for-Call-of-Duty-Multiplayer-Says-Activision
"Reports of a subscription membership in Modern Warfare 2 are not true," the statement read. "Activision has no plans to charge gamers to play Call of Duty multiplayer."
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.203461-Kotick-Wants-Call-of-Duty-Subscriptions-Tomorrow
Kotick added that this kind of service is "hopefully" coming, and that he thinks "audiences are clamoring for it."
Seriously Activision, if you're going to lie to us, at least get your facts straight.
Oh, snap.

Then again, perhaps Mr. Kotick only thinks he's the head of Activision and the members of the company just roll with it for the lulz.