Activision pursuing 'online monetization models' for Call of Duty franchise

by Ben Gilbert on Nov 15th 2009 11:30AM

For quite some time now, Activision execs have been hinting at the idea of MMO monetization being implemented in games other than Blizzard's behemoth World of Warcraft. Speaking at the BMO Capital Markets Conference this past week, another Activision exec – CFO Thomas Tippl – was tasked with the question of whether or not WoW's "successful online business model" (read: monthly subscription fees) would end up in other Activision properties.

"It's definitely an aspiration that we see potential in, particularly as we look at different business models to monetize the online gameplay," Tippl says, according to an IGN report. "I think it's been mutually beneficial, and you should expect us to test and ultimately launch additional online monetization models of some of some of our biggest franchises like Call of Duty." He also notes that "there is demand from the core gamers to pay up for that," which likely means that many of you who got Activision's survey back in June supported this.

Shame on you.

[Via CVG]

Source

Tags: activision, bmo-capital-markets, bmo-capital-markets-conference, business, call-of-duty, Call-of-Duty-MMO, cfo, ign, mmo, monetization, pay-to-play, thomas-tippl

Reader Comments (130)

Weeeeell, now we're fucked. Let the blame game... ensue!

I'm not sure who to blame. Kodick? Or the morons who would actually make this successful...

You don't blame a weasel for being a weasel. Being a moron is largely an opt-in program.

If they feel they can get money from folks who would be dedicated to the franchise and pay for it on a monthly basis I'm sure they'll go for it,

Let the milking begin.

But I'd do it if I was them, they'll make a ton of money for it. It's pretty difficult to say no when people are willing to give you their money.

Let's just hope they don't hurt the Call of Duty brand in the process the way they have the Guitar Hero franchise.

No... We're not all f'd. Some of us have stopped supporting Activision.

." He also notes that "there is demand from the core gamers to pay up for that,"

geeeeeeeeeeeeeeet the fuck outta here

Yeah this is crazy. The game is $60 I'm sure I'll be suckered into getting DLC maps AND they want to charge for a monthly subscription. Ummm NO!!!

Do think this is someething they can implement on existing COD games or would it be the next COD game?

If this is true then when is M.A.G out??

Don't forget you'll need a disc unlock code that you need to buy in order to play that retail copy you just bought :P

he also notes that "monetization models of some of some of our biggest franchise"

(of some of some)

If they have the balls to charge a subscription fee, they'd better start providing the new maps for free and give the level of content people expect from an MMO.

On the other hand, it's still a dumb idea.

I'm a core gamer. Pre-ordered the hell out of MW2. If I have to pay a monthly fee for the next one, I'm done.

I wonder though, if so many people are against it, what's to stop us from just playing MW2 instead a new subscription-based one? Are they gonna shut down the servers? Wait, it can't be....is THIS the reason they left out dedicated servers!?

because we all know how people love to pay for stuff that they could previously get for free!

"is THIS the reason they left out dedicated servers!?"

I'm gonna say... yes.

if they wanna charge me for thier service they better install dedicated servers around the globe then cos id have no problem paying for access to what we had in cod 4 now that ive tried the evil listen servers but even then id probs steer clear mw2 isnt as good as it was hyped to be dedis or not and it isnt worth a monthly fee

I'm eager for MW3 but if this is true, I'm done!!!!

I'll just wait for someone to upload the story/ending on youtube or wikipedia.
There's no way I'll ever pay for something I've already bought!!!!

Boycott...THE RIGHT WAY!

Looks like modern warfare is going to end up like kotor....

Wat? KotOR had two games, which they're following up with an MMO. That was a timespan of seven years (by the time TOR comes out).

Call of Duty has had six games, in six years. This isn't saying 'We're making a CoDMMO, this is saying that they're charging for it like an MMO.

BioWare>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Infinity Ward.

NOOO!!!!!!!!!!

*calms down

Well Call of Duty, we've had a good run...

I guess its time to move on... I hear Bad Company 2 is doing pretty crazy stuff like dedicated servers and mod support.

Gasp........UNTHINKABLE!!!

But does it have Mouse and Keyboard support, or Graphics Options? Huh? huh?

No big loss.

Call of Duty's a fun franchise and everything - usually - but it isn't some revolutionary, Blizzard-esque piece of fan-obsession. Support for the titles is a mile wide, but an inch thick.

In fact, the series would be pretty much dead by now if IW didn't insist to Activision that they be allowed to depart from World War 2. That breathed major life into the brand.

They'll do it, because they're Activision and he's Bobby Kotick. And we won't pay for it, because it's not an MMO and there are two dozen multiplayer shooters that come out every year. Modern Warfare just happens to be the most enjoyable one, but it would lose that distinction with this board-room nonsense.

You deserve four hearts, sir.

I wouldn't pay for it if it WAS an MMO, in fact that is why I like FPSs... because they are not MMOs. Make Call of Duty a grinding chore fest that I have to PAY for? No thanks.

I seriously hope this. People will pay for it regardless, but hopefully the masses will realize that they are getting ripped off.

@HitNRun:
Well said. I wish we could upvote that right to the top of the comment section.

"Modern Warfare just happens to be the most enjoyable one"

Well that will very from one person to another, but I doubt it's good enough to support itself with a monthly fee while "Semi realistic shooter number 2" over there will be free to play with all the little goodies people like with PC gaming. Hell, I was afraid MW2 would kill the MW on community, but those fears have been dashed for me.

I'm sure there are millions of idiots who will happily pay Activision $10 a month just to play their favorite game ever Modern Warfare 3. Just because you are smart and sane doesn't mean everyone is.

*spits coffee

WHY IS THERE COFFEE IN MY IRISH COFFEE!? BLECH

I mean I think map packs are an example of monetization of online games like this, but I wonder specific what other directions they'd take it. Certain game modes, guns, just flat out pay to play?

You have to pay 10 Microsoft points for every 1000 bullets you want to use in Modern Warfare 3?

The best part of the CoD MMO is the peer-to-peer game servers. No hackers or cheaters on the big servers like WoW runs.

I could see it now...bullet farming.

exvash2,

"The best part of the CoD MMO is the peer-to-peer game servers. No hackers or cheaters on the big servers like WoW runs." I sincerely doubt that. Within 6 hours after launch of the PC port, VAC was already bypassed; within 12 hours, aimbots and wallhacks were already in use by cheaters. By the time IWnet filters out the current riff raff, people will have already come up with new hacks and cheats the system will not detect. If there was a COD MMO that used the same or a similar system, it'll be a never ending cycle and the cheaters/hackers will ALWAYS come out ahead. Do not think for a moment a P2P online multiplayer model is more secure than playing through someone's server.

excuse my typos - Hung over.

you people think this is an mmo, no, this is just them talking about the bullshit that WoW has now, like paying 10 dollars for a pet, or like 5 dollars for a new costume or some complete bullshit that should already be achievable in the game.

Anyone who is for something like that (consumer) is just an idiot.

it's like cheering for down-loadable content 2 years before a game is released.

370 million on the first day wasn't big enough for you Activision? Yeah, GTFO.

Ah, there's nothing quite like paying for something more than once, especially when it used to be free to play online.

I wonder where these core gamers that want to "pay up" for this are? What exactly are people paying up for?

Bleh.

Kotick must be sick of all the room his physical money is taking up.

so he make more money to make a room to put his money in.

I made a few phone calls, heres the result

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/896/myonnoticeboard.jpg

guy needs to build a bigger treasure room

Is anyone surprised by this?

As soon as I read that you'd have to have the most current patch in order to play MW2 online it was obvious they were going to start trickling out map packs which you had to purchase in order to continue to play online...enter the monetization of their current product while they work on their World of Call of Duty - maybe they'll bump the server maps up to 10v10 then!

No but they will increase the level cap and implement a highly sought after new gun that only drops randomly off a players corpse.

This gun will be painted orange so that all will know you found it and you can be more awesome for having it.

They might have also added some less rare blue and purple painted gun models as well.

You require the latest patch to play online as it's a peer-to-peer system on all platforms. Also, dozens of map packs have been released for games before without excluding people from online play; DLC maps either appear in a separate playlist or simply don't show up in rotation. This is a non-issue for console players, and the sad fact is the PC version is just a console port.

As far a monetization goes, the likely move I see is a subscription fee above a cetain level/prestige. Map packs are a reality of modern gaming, but further monetization (particularly when your money isn't even funding dedicated servers) is bullshit. I don't think any sane person would be willing to pay a subscription fee for an FPS.

This is so messed. If this goes through, I will buy no more CoD games. Hell, I only bought the most recent because of my friend's enthusiasms.

So now the console gamers will get as pissed off as PC gamers and understand why?
; )

Come on Kotick, you may get away with fucking over PC gamers, but you can't do that to console gamers, you have a lot of balls buddy.

Hey, look at it this way. When they implement this, we can use that "first they came for our dedicated servers, and I said nothing..." shtick for the console crowd!

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Activision pursuing 'online monetization models' for Call of Duty franchise

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