Ben-DutkaActivision has been a standard gamer's punching bag for a while now. And this won't help.
You've probably noticed that a certain rumor is making the rounds; it comes from a YouTube video posted by a member of the 360Junkies forums . In this clip, it appears that Activision plans to harvest even more cash from their annual arrival of the lucrative Call of Duty crop. It seems a user went to go join a friend's session in Modern Warfare 2 and was greeted with a line of text that mentions "Modern Warfare 2 Membership." The user would then have to select a certain membership level or add Microsoft Points… Now, bear one thing in mind: both Infinity Ward boss Robert Bowling and Treyarch community manager Josh Olin have countered the idea of a "pay-to-play model" for the franchise. Bowling said on his Twitter page that "nobody has to pay to play CoD or MW2 multiplayer, nor will they." And Olin said the rumor was "officially squashed." However, it could be pretty difficult to fake that video and Bobby Kotick has expressed interest in other revenue streams for their games…
We're not really sure what to think right now. We certainly want to believe Bowling and Olin but then again, Activision has the rights to do almost as they please…and the default desire for any owner of a multi-billion-dollar product is to make even more money.
Its more activison than microsoft. On the flip side EA has gained a lot more respect from me lately all this ps3 exclusive stuff and just the diversity of their games is great
I think it's because of Microsoft getting away with charging to play online that Activision are toying with the idea of pay-to-play.
Activision saw that there are plenty of people out there that are willing/gulible enough to pay for something that should be free.
The way they see it- free money.
I see a lot of ppl commenting that this probably won't happen, but I have to disagree. For one simple fact always remains, some ppl will pay it.
Sad, but true. How many ppl put up $150 for the special edition of MW2? I don't know the exact numbers, but I know most websites sold out of their pre-orders for it. I'm sorry, but that is just sad, that's half the price of a ps3.
Truth is, that while many of us here would never pay that much for CoD, or be willing to pay monthly fees for CoD, lots and lots of ppl will.
For some strange reason that I'll never understand, some ppl seem to think they can't live without their CoD and they will pay whatever it takes to get every last special pre-order, every last bit of dlc, and squeeze every last pathetic drop out of CoD, regardless of the cost.
So that's why I see Kotick, going for it, because even if initial sales took a hit, they'd get it back and more from those who are willing to shell out endless amounts of cash all to play CoD.
it will not happen for black ops. treyarch said so.
black ops is the only game i will buy from now till years end… if i don't get my hands on some more cash before then..
Honestly I'm looking forward to Black Ops but if the rumors hold true I can definitely live without it and any future installments of CoD.
If they do.. no more CoD for me. I play it too much anyways. Unless they actually make the game good enough to buy just for the single-player..
The fact that the guy who ultimatly controls the series was wanting to charge $100 for a single game, I could se this happening.
lol, dont care, sold MW2 a long time ago.
but we know this is going to happen eventually.
its up to us the consumer to not support this.
lol CoD aint that special
Please let me pay to play MW2, then I have a good reason to quit playing that way to addictive game.
i know its activision were talking about, but i really cant see them doing this.
COD is one of the most played online games ATM, they dont want to loose that.
they think people will sit there as they tip them over and shake the coins out?
ask ubisoft how that turned out!
"COD is one of the most played online games ATM"
There's your answer to why they would do it.
so?
you really think people are going to pay for it?
there are many other places they can go for free MP which is just as good if not better than COD!
I wouldn't be suprised if they did announce it, activision have been money grabbers for a long time now.
Oc c'mon lets not jump on conclutions here, this "membership" can be *anything*, and most probably is something along the lines of "Rockstar Social club", Skate(1/2/3) or the Burnout Paradise player club. It's optional, it's free and it's just a feature to make more out of the online gaming.
Edit: Come to think of it I think maybe the Skate club was a mandatory (EA) membership in order to play online. But my point remains the same.
Last edited by Beamboom on 7/20/2010 6:29:24 AM
Since when was Robert Bowling the boss at IW?
since everyone else got fired?
Tell me why i would pay to play the multiplayer? I wont even pay the 45 fu**ing quid they're asking for the game, tossers.
Well, i wasn't happy paying £30 for mw2 and generally dont play it that much.
So doing this would make me skip the franchise all together.
…
Ultimadream has spoken. Nothing more to be said.
Knowing Activision, this will eventually happen.
Activision can go F*uck themselves… I mean I do play MW2 multiplayer b/c most of my friends play it non stop but i could do without MW or any call of duty as long as I have warhawk, battlefield:BC2, and now Medal of Honor… I'm pretty sure I won't be the only one to say F*CK U activision… Your lucky enough to have sold millions and millions with a mediocre game to begin with and now u wanna charge to get online too… A**HOLES
Last edited by Deathb4Dishonor on 7/20/2010 9:53:02 AM
Well, with a game like MW2 is it more a case of pay per clip instead of pay per play? I mean, if they *want* to be idiots and charge per play, then why not simply charge players for ammunition?
Yeah, I know, stupid idea huh? But think about it, you could buy your way to success. Don't feel like losing any more, splash $10 on some RPGs. Want to be a complete killer on the battlefield? $10 on ammunition for your chain gun should do the trick…Oh, I could so see this happening, especially for shooters.
I'd run around using knives only.
Somebody delete this post before Bobby sees it!
Sounds like Combat Arms for the pc, you have to pay for most guns on there, and they're not even permanent.
@ underdog
They'd probably make it so that you have to replace your knife after every swing of it.
I would hurl insults their way. They would be so devestated, they would leave. I would win defacto. I don't think they can charge per insult can they?
Then maybe I could do my own version of Family Guy's, "Catch the Greesed up Deaf Guy". I could alter my voice with that voice changing setting under accessories.
No offense to the deaf or unshowered, of course.
If Activision do decide to charge to play online and it's successful (which it probably would be with all the hardcore CoD fanboys) then I just hope other devs/publishers don't look at it and say "hey, people are paying to play online, why aren't we doing this?"
So long as people pay M$ for online gameplay, other greedy bastards are gonna want their free money too.
Pay your yearly fee so you can pay your monthly fee and then your used game fee. Pay to pay to pay to play.
Activision can do whatever they want. They can milk all the money they want out of their cadre of CoD buffoons because they know they can and the CoD plebians can't make decisions for themselves.
Just once, I'd like to see these CoD fans just stick it to them. Just once.
Just another reason added to the long list of why i don't want Black Ops. Or any other Activision game really with the exception of Dj Hero2. I have a feeling that one day Activision is going down. They are extra greedy!!! And you know… Bad things happen when you get greedy.
Call of Duty Online Play Will Remain Free, says Activision
http://www.industrygamers.com/news/call-of-duty-online-play-will-remain-free-says-activision/
they say a lot of things
Actually, so says IW and Treyarch. In a link to related article, Kotick, in response to a question about what he would change, he said that he would make COD a subscription service by tomorrow. He went on to enumerate the billions of hours that have been logged in COD multiplayer and how people are willing to pay xbox live fees for it. He then mentions how they could make the service even more compelling, but fails to mentions said additions.
While devs have shot down these rumors, I would imagine these sort of ideas are floating around publisher's offices.
MW2 was a really short game, yet it has managed to outsell…. everything? Millions of gamers log unto Activision's servers to engage in online play. It really is the online community that has placed MW2 into the position it's in today. I wouldn't be surprised, in the not-to-distant future, that we see some sort of pay-to-play service fee.
Optimistically, if these sort of fees ever get implemented, maybe we'll see a drop in the cost of the off-the-shelf copies for single player play.
Having little interest in CoD's online play, a roughly 5 hour campaign just doesn't justify a price tag of a full-price game.
Sorry to put it this way but Activision can lick my b*lls if they do that. I am a person with a brain, I know when to stop. All of these CoD finatics are the complete opposites though, most are 14 year olds who still need thier parents to dress them. CoD fans would give thier right ball to play a CoD game. Thats why they are STUPID and should not be allowed to play games. They are like sheep, they will do anything that CoD tells them (of course not tells them, but you know what I mean) They really do knock me sick.
I mean the reeeeaaal CoD fans here, not the casual fans who have a life.
I consider myself a CoD:MW2 -participant-. Not a fan. MW2 is my first, and perhaps my last CoD. As long as my friends don't manipulate me into buying the next one.