Activision: We're NOT Charging for Online Play
Activision, Treyarch and Infinity Ward say that subscription fees will never be applied to Call of Duty titles.
Last week industry analyst Michael Pachter said that multiplayer components of PC and console games were driving overall sales down. To combat this problem, he suggested that Activision should charge for online play--as seen with MMORPG subscription services--starting with its upcoming game, Call of Duty Black Ops.
A supposed "leaked" video then surfaced Monday indicating that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on Xbox Live would introduce a subscription service for the game's online mode. The video depicts the Xbox Live menu from Modern Warfare 2 showing terms such as "add Microsoft points," "membership," and "balance." This may be indicative of absolutely nothing, however rumors heated up nonetheless.
Since the video's release, Activision, Treyarch and Infinity Ward have released statements assuring gamers that they will never be required to pay a subscription fee to play online. "This video shows just a glitch-- since you can access a Live subscription renewal from within the MW2 game interface, it appears some data got jammed between two parts of Live," said Activision's Dan Amrich in his blog. "It's not a secret portal to some nefarious plot to charge people for COD multiplayer--and there are no plans to do that."
Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling followed up in his blog by adding that "there is not, and will never be, additional fees required to subscribe and play Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer." As for Black Ops, Treyarch's community manager confirmed on Twitter that a subscription model would not be applied to the game. To round out the rumor bashing, Activision rejected reports that it's adding subscription memberships with Modern Warfare 2.
"Activision has no plans to charge gamers to play Call of Duty multiplayer," the company said. But clearly, the company left the doors open to change its plans down the line.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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Marco925 The future is anyone's guess. they may say something now, but they can also reverse their decision later on.Reply -
4745454b Whew, what a relief. Will not be applied to the CoD titles. And thank god they make nothing else. Or else they would just charge for them.Reply -
sliem Lemon juice! Free! It's free! The cup is $15 though! But we are not charging for the juice!Reply -
hellwig Well, you won't be required to pay anything beyond your XBox Live subscription fees, that is. Not sure why everyone keeps glossing over those.Reply -
Slightly confused....Reply
If
Since the video's release, Activision, Treyarch and Infinity Ward have released statements assuring gamers that they will never be required to pay a subscription fee to play online.
then how can you say:
But clearly, the company left the doors open to change its plans down the line.
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ArgleBargle Much like the promise of Larissa Riquelme to run naked through the streets of Paraguay, to the promised release of Duke Nukem Forever, I anticipate this promise of "never charging for online play" was made only to be broken.Reply -
insider3 Believe me, if they add subscription fees, they would lose money. You can't compare FPS games to MMO. At least MMORPG games add free content and keep the game interesting..That's a reason to pay monthly, new items, levels whatever. Call of duty? Okay I'm gonna pay monthly and 1/3rd of the players are hackers? They can't even keep the game clean. I'm glad this is just a rumor, otherwise it would be a joke if it were to happen.Reply -
Malachi1975 Of course Activisioon won't add "fees for online play"! They're making a killing by being THE most aggressively priced DLC on the planet. Why change the forumla when people are dropping $15 for 4 maps on $60 PC games?Reply