Tom's Hardware > News > Components > CPU > Activision Wants Consoles to be Replaced by PCs

Activision Wants Consoles to be Replaced by PCs

10:00 AM - July 7, 2010 by Marcus Yam - source: Tom's Hardware US

So basically, he just wants to make games for PC that will be played from the couch.

Today, we live in a multiplatform world. Many games that hit the PlayStation 3 are also on the Xbox 360, and some of those even make it to the PC. Due to hardware constraints, the Wii may get a watered down version of the software.

Activision, one of the leading cross platform publishers, wishes to move away from the "walled gardens" set by the likes of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.

Bobby Kotick, Activision CEO, told the Financial Times that it believes that the majority of Xbox Live subscribers pay Microsoft for the Xbox 360 online service just to play Modern Warfare – a subscription fee that Activision doesn't get any share of.

"We've heard that 60 per cent of [Microsoft's] subscribers are principally on Live because of Call of Duty," Kotick told FT. "We don't really participate financially in that income stream. We would really like to be able to provide much more value to those millions of players playing on Live, but it's not our network."

Of course, Activision has still made a tidy sum from the sales of Modern Warfare 2 and the $15 map packs that it inevitably sells millions of.

Kotick's solution to this is simply to turn to the PC, where it can set its own model for pricing – not unlike what Blizzard has done with World of Warcraft and Battle.net. He added that Activision would "very aggressively" support the likes of HP and Dell in any effort of making an easy 'plug-and-play' PC that would hook up directly to the TV.

_{(via GameSpot.)}

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aznpwned 07/07/2010 4:12 PM

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Oh the irony.

eklipz330 07/07/2010 4:15 PM

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what, they want it on pc so THEY can charge us for it? screw you activision. stay on ur console

atdhe 07/07/2010 4:18 PM

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Although I'm a PC fan, hate consoles, he is basically saying, we want more money...

Well, as long as it benefits us, the consumers, I'm ok with it.

Pei-chen 07/07/2010 4:22 PM

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Regulas 07/07/2010 4:22 PM

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noodlegts 07/07/2010 4:22 PM

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Every time that man speaks I kind of throw up in my mouth a little bit.

So he wants a PC that plays like a console so Activision can charge its own subscription fee for games that have been deteriorating in quality for some time now...

Maybe if you just made good games, you could sell a lot of them rather than trying to squeeze money out of every point in the system. I mean, I bought BFBC2 JUST because it had dedicated servers and it was Modern Warfare-ish. Thats a lot of extra sales Activision could have made.

hot74rod2003 07/07/2010 4:23 PM

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if they would get away from console that would be great for us pc gamers!!!! the programers woud be able to concentrate and put all their time into pc,,,making a better overall game!

Regulas 07/07/2010 4:25 PM

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To add to my comment, this would spur the development and focus back to the PC for games, get away from port jobs. Still not buying SC2 because of their 3 part game with no LAN support.

tokenz 07/07/2010 4:34 PM

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regulas :
WOW, suddenly I am liking Activision.

Why so they can charge you 60 for a game, 15 for a map pack, and now they want to charge a subscription fee on top of it. Hey activision make a game that is fun. Like MW2 was for the first 5 minutes before everyone started cheating.

digiex 07/07/2010 4:35 PM

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superblahman123 07/07/2010 4:38 PM

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Quote :Activision would "very aggressively" support the likes of HP and Dell in any effort of making an easy 'plug-and-play' PC that would hook up directly to the TV

Solution: PC with HDMI out and a controller... this has been available for quite some time

tokenz 07/07/2010 4:38 PM

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This guy is amazing . So what he is basically saying is he wants, Dell or HP to make a computer that hooks up to a tv. (basically a console). So they can sell a game that would be on par spec wise with a console. Just so they can charge for the game, all add ons, and make you subscribe for a fee, just to play a game. Hey activision make your own damn console. No wonder Infinity Ward told you to go.

superblahman123 07/07/2010 4:39 PM

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sliem 07/07/2010 4:40 PM

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"We don't really participate financially in that income stream. We would really like to be able to provide much more value to those millions of players playing on Live, but it's not our network."

Translate: we are greedy rich bastards and want your money no matter how. We, like Apple, care not of you, only your money.

matt_b 07/07/2010 4:44 PM

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Quote :We've heard that 60 per cent of [Microsoft's] subscribers are principally on Live because of Call of Duty

Equates to -> "We saw the announcement by EA with the intention of charging a fee for their used games to be played online, then we got to looking at our cash-cow and started thinking of how to come up with a way to cash in ourselves."

ern88 07/07/2010 4:45 PM

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I don't know how to take this from Activision. I like to know what their true Agenda is. And really. Can there be a "Wanna-be PC Console"that will not need a single upgrade for 5 years...I don't think so. I think Activision better wake up from lala land. Anyone remember 3D0. That was suppose to be a common platform to replace the Sega's and Nintendo's of that era. Never happened and don't seeing it happening in the near future.

hellwig 07/07/2010 4:48 PM

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I like that game developers are unhappy with XBox live. I don't really like the fact that Activision just wants a cut of those profits for itself. I think its pretty shady that you have to pay anyone (other than your ISP) to play a game online when the content doesn't change. Sure MMORPGs are pay-per-play, but they usually have to update constantly. The only time console games update is when they release new DLC (which you have to pay for). I don't see how they justify making you pay to play online. If they allowed private servers, they wouldn't even be bearing the cost of hosting.

requiemsallure 07/07/2010 4:49 PM

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I hope Blizzard breaks off from Activision for some reason.

aceright 07/07/2010 4:52 PM

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First, CoD is dead. Kotick did that when he killed IW. Second, 60% of people are not on Live for CoD. The number of hugely popular games on Live before CoD even took off with MW1 pretty much paints this as revisionist history. Third, maybe he should consider the fact that the success of the platform apart from CoD is one of the reasons CoD does so well. Yes, he wants a cut of Live fees. Yet without the ecosystem that was already in place to support an online environment for the massive living room audiance he doesn't make his 1B off the CoD franchise.

Without reading between the lines: For many months now Activision is preparing gamers for a pay-to-play model for CoD. Good thing they killed IW because it is all down hill from here and I have no interest. I am going to enjoy this blowing up in his face

Euphoria_MK 07/07/2010 5:00 PM

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doomedUSA :
****Edited by moderator for language*******.

Are you crazy sir?

infodan 07/07/2010 5:05 PM

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Quote :He added that Activision would "very aggressively" support the likes of HP and Dell in any effort of making an easy 'plug-and-play' PC that would hook up directly to the TV.

so any pc with vga/dvi/hdmi as long as your not still using a CRT TV (ok still need speakers if its not hdmi, big wow)

urlsen 07/07/2010 5:06 PM

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First i saw the title ad said ohh...activision back on the pc wagon...and then...ohh not really, just wanna make mony of a pc like tv console (htpc kind) whith i think still mean ported games...
Usuck and u aint getting my green

jonpaul37 07/07/2010 5:08 PM

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accolite 07/07/2010 5:08 PM

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First PC's are dead and now he says they are the way?

Make up your mind.

jonpaul37 07/07/2010 5:10 PM

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There are two types of gamers, Console gamers who are uneducated and PC gamers who get better visual quality...

domenic 07/07/2010 5:12 PM

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Quote :He added that Activision would "very aggressively" support the likes of HP and Dell in any effort of making an easy 'plug-and-play' PC that would hook up directly to the TV.

I don't think this guy understands what a PC is.

Regulas 07/07/2010 5:13 PM

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tokenz :
Why so they can charge you 60 for a game, 15 for a map pack, and now they want to charge a subscription fee on top of it. Hey activision make a game that is fun. Like MW2 was for the first 5 minutes before everyone started cheating.

Agree

a-a-a 07/07/2010 5:16 PM

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I got a computer that can do that now.....

eklipz330 07/07/2010 5:19 PM

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jonpaul37 :
You are not getting the point. I play MW2 on the PC and do not pay a monthly fee for a "live" service like on the 360,i just paid for the game and play multiplayer. Imagine a 360 where you didn't have to pay the $15.00 a month just to play multiplayer MW2, this is what he is talking about...

"Kotick's solution to this is simply to turn to the PC, where it can set its own model for pricing – not unlike what Blizzard has done with World of Warcraft and Battle.net."

If you read the article, you would have seen that they want to charge monthly so they can 'provide the best service' on pc's.

rmse17 07/07/2010 5:19 PM

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@Pei-chen : StarCraft II is already set as pay per play for battle.net in some regions of the world.

jojesa 07/07/2010 5:22 PM

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So first they wanted to abandon the PC and go to the console where the money was and they had more control.
They see others (Microsoft & Sony) making some money providing a service that should have been free in the first place.
Now they lose control they cannot do anything about it and want to go back to the PC to charge users more money.
Good Luck with that... Ha Ha. Payback is a bitch!