Xbox Addict

Activision Will Never Charge for CoD Multiplayer

Ever since Activision CEO Bobby Kotick raised the possibility that they would someday introduce a subscription model for Call of Duty’s multiplayer, gamers have almost accepted the notion as a grave inevitability. But while Activision has since dispelled rumors of pay-to-play for Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops specifically, they’ve now gone a step further, promising there will never be a charge for CoD multiplayer, ever, for as long as the series lives.
"Are we going to be charging for multiplayer? The answer is no," said Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg to Industry Gamers. "The experience you have out of the box, connecting with the online community to play Call of Duty is absolutely integral to the experience and we’ll never charge for that. It’s not going to be something we’ll attempt to monetize; it’s part of the package."

Furthermore, Hirshberg said that simply adding a subscription to CoD’s multiplayer as it exists today would never work. And speaking specifically about comments analyst Michael Pachter has made about possible subscription models, Hirshberg dismissed it as speculative thinking about a bigger shift in the way entertainment is monetized as a whole.

"Nothing we or anyone else tries is going to work if it doesn’t have tremendous value for people and add a tremendous value to the gaming experience," Hirshberg explained. "[Michael Pachter is] probably looking at meta-trends in the world and in culture about online services and new ways things should be monetized from Netflix to cloud-based computing. So there are certainly a lot of behavioral shifts towards long-standing online relationships...But at the end of the day, all I’m trying to get across is I can unequivocally say we will never, ever charge for the multiplayer."

Never. Ever. You can rest well tonight, CoD fan.