Activision Toying With The Idea Of Pay To Play For CoD?
Activision 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.
Tags: activision, call of duty, pay to play
7/19/2010 9:04:33 PM Ben Dutka
Put this on your webpage or blog:
Email this to a friend
Follow PSX Extreme on Twitter
Comments (90 posts)
Qubex
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 12:36:10 AM
Godslim
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 5:11:33 AM
ace_boon_coon
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 1:34:07 PM
StangMan80
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 9:36:06 PM
Reply
DazeOfWar
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 11:04:17 PM
chewy102
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 11:41:05 PM
Naztycuts
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 11:53:27 PM
chewy102
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 12:20:06 AM
p.s. wasn't the first hack in COD4 where you change the color of your name?
Naztycuts
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 1:13:54 AM
Underdog15
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 9:54:21 PM
Reply
Hooray!
But on a serious note, I really don't want to get another CoD game (it would only be my second). But I fear some of my buddies would coax me into getting it for online play. (They're the only reason I play it so much now.)
I know for sure at least 2 of them won't get it if they have to subscribe. This might sound odd... but I hope they DO charge... that way we can play some OTHER online game for once. lol
Kangasfwa
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 10:44:32 PM
Underdog15
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 8:37:38 AM
My favorite is in MW2, when noob tubers start calling us cheaters for using heartbeat censors. Especially when they consistently come back for more death without switching to a class that uses ninja... morons. lol
The X Factor 9
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 10:02:04 PM
Reply
CrispyJawas
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 10:05:06 PM
Reply
These people that get bent out of shape for having to pay a small fee each month to play COD online are the same ones ranting that Gamestop is ruining the game industry by selling pre-owned games.
Alienange
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 10:23:06 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 11:06:57 PM
Nickjcal
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 11:26:02 PM
aaronisbla
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 6:42:03 AM
Underdog15
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 8:40:25 AM
SvenMD
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 9:46:42 AM
Jawknee
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 1:01:17 PM
Underdog15
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 2:37:43 PM
DeathOfChaos
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 10:09:22 PM
Reply
Alienange
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 10:26:43 PM
Reply
Regardless of how screwed up the Live network is, the point still stands that a CoD monthly fee will kill the franchise.
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 10:35:27 PM
Alienange
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 10:51:22 PM
bigrailer19
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 11:09:41 PM
A lot of people blame Activision, but in my opinion IW put the franchise in this position. I mean Treyarch built a great all around game in W@W, even with Activision publishing it.In my opinion IW was fishing for money as well as Activision with MW2.
Alienange
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 11:14:03 PM
No disrespect to W@W. That game is great and I'm sure I'll get my moneys worth out of Black Ops... Unless it's a monthly fee of course.
Last edited by Alienange on 7/19/2010 11:14:18 PM
bigrailer19
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 10:26:57 PM
Reply
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 10:37:43 PM
Reply
FM23
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 11:04:48 PM
Reply
Underdog15
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 9:01:32 AM
Lebron became a free agent. He had every right to go wherever the heck he wants. Welcome to the real world, Cleveland.
BeezleDrop
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 11:10:07 PM
Reply
FM23
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 11:15:51 PM
Godslim
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 5:14:14 AM
Nickjcal
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 11:27:49 PM
The Stig
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 10:24:14 AM
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.
kraygen
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 11:58:44 PM
Reply
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.
___________
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 2:43:03 AM
Reply
The Stig
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 10:27:07 AM
___________
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 @ 9:18:17 AM
Beamboom
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 6:26:08 AM
Reply
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
aaronisbla
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 6:44:54 AM
Reply
MyWorstNightmar
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 4:10:12 PM
Deathb4Dishonor
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 9:52:24 AM
Reply
Last edited by Deathb4Dishonor on 7/20/2010 9:53:02 AM
Highlander
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 10:03:54 AM
Reply
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.
Nynja
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 11:55:00 AM
carl0975
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 2:23:06 PM
kraygen
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 3:09:08 PM
MyWorstNightmar
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 4:12:16 PM
Underdog15
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 5:02:18 PM
Underdog15
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 5:02:40 PM
RadioHeader
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 11:50:15 AM
Reply
Deleted User
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 1:14:26 PM
Reply
BikerSaint
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 1:41:04 PM
Reply
Shams
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 4:43:13 PM
Temjin001
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @ 9:03:57 PM
Reply
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.
nath08
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 @ 11:05:26 AM
Reply
I mean the reeeeaaal CoD fans here, not the casual fans who have a life.
Underdog15
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 @ 2:38:22 PM

Call of Duty: Black Ops









Jawknee
Reply
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 9:34:44 PM