Once again the question of CoD subscription charges has raised its ugly head – despite being shot down a number of times in the past. Activision COO Thomas Tippl had the following to say when asked if CoD could ever emulate the subscription model used by World of Warcraft:
“I don’t think there’s a one size fits all…. There’s no doubt that we are looking to extend recurring revenue models and in many ways we have already accomplished that – even on Call Of Duty, although it takes a different form than subscription.
Every year we have a great game, so every year we have recurring revenues that has a lot of zeros attached to it. We are expanding revenue during the in-between periods with additional content we’ve sold very successfully with map packs.
As we look into the future, there are new and innovative service offerings that could give players more choice. What we’re not going to do is take anything away from players that they used to get today for the price they get it for today. I don’t think that would be a good and smart business decision.
But I think we have a lot in our pipeline that we believe will provide great value for our players. So I think there’s continued opportunity to expand the player base and to provide them with service offerings and products that can also enhance revenue growth.”
Breaking it down slightly, it sounds a bit like PlayStation Plus in as much as you don’t get anything taken away from you, but there are additional perks that you can get by paying a little bit extra. Sounds interesting.
Source: CVG
Bilbo_bobbins
Exactly like P+. They say it’s additional perks, but slowly ends up with most things going to those who pay. Which unfortunately means those who have the sense not to fool for these tactics, losing out.
If this happens, I wont be purchasing, just like P+.
BalramRules
im just wonderin dat how r they gunna charge playstation members?
i understand chargin xbox members with a seperate service than LIVE, but not PlayStation =1
tonycawley
Sounds rubbish. Someone who pays a fiver a month gets better guns than me? Would break the game. You seriously can’t believe a word they say. 1 minute there will be no additional revenue models, the next there might be but we wont take anything away from those that don’t pay. So there’s a change straight away. How long til they change this statement? Soon you’ll only get the sp for the 45 quid and have to pay extra for mp. Seriously, they make untold millions out of this franchise, they never heard if it aint broke, don’t fix it? So many other avenues they could explore further than this. Sp Dlc? Spec-ops Dlc? You don’t need subscription models to earn extra cash, just develop better additional content. That’d also solve the problem of people trading their games in, they’d hang onto them for the Dlc they know is coming. Muppets! Ok, rant over :-)
Bilbo_bobbins
bang on mate. It amazes me how this company love to rub their customers up the wrong way with comments like this.
tonycawley
I forgot to say, just to balance it out a little, they do make great games (well, their developers do). As much as people slate cod it is fantastic, and has so many millions of regular players for a reason. But their business sense is shocking.
bajere
i dont really see the problem with paying more for online stuff if its the only mode people play. IMO MW2 should of just been a MP game and if this new COD is going to be focused on MP again, then i would rather they sell the game for £10 then charge a monthly fee. All these map packs, perks, and weapon upgrades for those who pay more just leads to a gulf appearing between players. Reminds me of those stupid boot upgrades in FIFA where you can pay to increase you shooting or passing abilities for a few games…rubbish!
MustaffaLeek
@tonycrawley, can’t agree more… this is a classic case of bean counters ruining an amazing game franchise by trying to monetise every aspect they think they can get away with.
Rocket_345
I agree with everything that you said. I would think that they would atleast have seperate games for those that subscribe and those that dont.
Charmed_Fanatic
I agree, kind of being punished for not paying
Origami Killer
Completly agree with every1, 45 for the game (5 more than everything else) then they expect 22 for a handful of maps, madness
aphex187
Again Activision continue to amaze me on how they like to f over the gaming community! not content with the lashings of Dollars they make from their games but how much they make from these map packs and now they want more money!?
Next it’ll be £1.99 for a clip of ammo!
minerwilly
I dont see in that speech where he actually says that its going to happen on CoD , personally it wont bother me as i wont be getting another CoD game because Battlefield fulfils all my online fps shooting needs and is a million miles ahead of Cod and has been since 2002 .
tonycawley
That’s your opinion, and also the opinion of a few others. I think you’ll find though there are many millions of people who completely disagree with you.
minerwilly
Oh yea totally mate but i own every Cod and BF and in my opinion (not yours!) Cod up until the last one had fantastic single player and Battlefield the multiplayer… well what more needs to be said !!
Its certainly for the more mature crowd which sadly i fit into :( , and that is clearly evident when in voiped up squads . If i was still a young teenage boy id be all over Cod MP, after all every one of my friends children are hooked on it whereas the Dads are more into the tactical and teamwork side of BF .
MegaBonez
I hate these people that aren’t content with making their customers happy, but feel they have to line their wallets with more cash! If CoD goes subscription, they can kiss my custom goodbye!
3shirts
Me too. I already think it’s just ok. This will be enough to downgrade that opinion.
bunimomike
A business will always want to line its wallet with more cash. I reckon these snippets of new methods to monetise COD is a way for them to test the waters and see what our reaction is. Then, when they fall on one that doesn’t get too strong a reaction they’ll plump for that. Cunning swines.
3shirts
The argument of ‘we won’t take anything away, just give subscribers more’ is bullshit. All it guarantees is that is 9 months time, we’ll still have the same guns we have now. Great. The chances are that subscribers will have shit loads of new fancy weapons, perks and add-ons making it pretty much impossible to keep up without shelling out.
Bilbo_bobbins
Of course it is. It’s what Sony have used for Playstation Plus too. Down the line only suscribers will be getting beta/demos etc, you can see it coming.
Apnomis
“What we’re not going to do is take anything away from players that they used to get today for the price they get it for today.”
Apart from when they increased the RRP to £55 that is…
MustaffaLeek
I am sooo glad I traded MW2 for BFBC2 :)
DrNate86
They seem to he happy providing additional content for money, I doubt they will have a subscription service for this I think they will just continue to release map packs and may add weapon packs etc, I don’t see why it has caused such an outrage unless I have missed something from the statement?
John Malcolm
Thomas Tippl: “But I think we have a lot in our pipeline that we believe will provide great value for our players.” “…and to provide them with service offerings and products that can also enhance revenue growth.”
Yeah, like re-cycled maps for £11.99.
Still, if there are people who are prepared to pay for this, and there seem to be lots, all I can say is “well done, you’re encouraging them to rip you off in the future.”
As you can guess, I no longer play MW2, partly because (a) I’m crap, and (b) the price of DLC.
Oh, and the same finger points at LittleBigPlanet and all those outfits/level kits…
3shirts
I feel this way about Apple products. They are so overpriced but people are stupid enough to pay it time after time so they carry on, as any sensible business would.
This will end up the same way