130°

Online Subscription Service for Call of Duty Coming Next Year?

Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter has been talking about publishers, specifically Activision, launching online subscription services to better monetize the vast amounts of online play taking place these days. While Pachter thought it would happen by the end of the year, he's now backtracked on that, suggesting it will happen at some point in 2011 instead. Consequently, Wedbush has removed the Activision Blizzard stock from its Best Ideas List.

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industrygamers.com
donniebaseball5551d ago

Yeah, sad to say, but this is probably going to happen eventually and gamers will not be pleased.

danmachine5551d ago (Edited 5551d ago )

Its well known that they make there money through selling DLC. If they go down this route it will be suicide for the cod franchise. Activision know this, also if you had to pay to play cod why should xbox live users have to pay for a subscription.Paying twice for a service would just take the p**s.

If Activision want to earn extra money from COD the first place they should look is Microsoft and not the gamers, after all they are racking it in and 40% of xbox live subscribers join only to play cod. Microsoft should pay game developers like a TV network would get paid by the viewers it gets.

Basically Microsoft are making money from the game developers hard work and are not giving enough back to them.

slate915551d ago

So I guess Sony is innocent when it comes to their online community playing online games as well?

No it is in no way, shape, or form the companies responsibility to "give back" to game developers. Wtf? It's the companies that make the game popular and provide servers for the developers to base their games off of.

Nitrowolf25551d ago (Edited 5551d ago )

i think for activision this is a win-lose
If they did decide to go with this they have to consider live user are already paying meaning would they fork more money to play cod? of course there will be some but i think the most would be coming from PSN user since they are a free service, so they online is already free whereas 360 they pay 4 online, and now they need to stack up and payonline for a game on a service that they are already paying to play online.
acti will lose many buying on live from wat i think, but gain more on PSN. Reason is Live could potentiall be around 70-80 bucks a year with COD added. I mean i think 70 is just a minimum knowing Acti they could very well charge 20-30 bucks maybe even 40

but then again people are dumb this gen when it comes to COD (look at map packs sales)

for gamers we pretty much lose

RedDead5551d ago

Is it not illegal if they don't tell you about it before you buy the game?

LOOK_AT_THIS_I5550d ago

no its not illegal. in all TOS on games they state somewhere that they reserve the right to modify/cancel service at any time. basically once you press the agree button you are screwed. if they wanted to turn around the week after release they could shut down the servers. hell would be raised, perhaps someone would look out for the consumer but they have the right according to the 96 pg TOS agreement you have to skim through when signing up/or that is hidden online in the back of the manual.

I will never pay a subscription fee to play a single game, there are way too many other games that will offer just as much enjoyment who dont have to nickel and dime the fans to make money short of your initial purchase of the game.

Sparticus_15550d ago (Edited 5550d ago )

It will NOT affect cod players...the sheeple and puppets will pay for it...just like they run each year and pick up the same game with a new facelift.

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DigitalAnalog5551d ago

WWWW.....WWWWHAT?

-End statement

CYCLEGAMER5551d ago

If they do this, then I am done with Call of Duty period.

avengers19785550d ago

I won't pay any money to play an online shooter, COD might be a good game but there are a ton of good FPS to play online so unless they all do that I won't pay for it.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 5550d ago
scar205551d ago

Who cares cod is dead now the last game i ever bought was cod4.

donniebaseball5551d ago

A lot of people still play if you don't and they will be up in arms if there's an extra charge for online.

ddurand15551d ago

maybe its dead to you, but the 10+ million people that are going to buy it in the coming weeks would disagree.

multipayer5551d ago

They are also dead to me.

SkylineR5551d ago

COD is dead cos you stopped playing it? Tell that to 18mil or so people who are predicted to buy it before year's end...

I've said it before and I'll say it again; STFU Patcher. He doesn't know when to shut up! And now removing activision from this list is like saying "I can't predict, so we'll remove you from this investor list until you start charging for oine play and then I'll be "right". F}%khead!!

Chnswdchldrn5551d ago

does not mean that it is not dead

what those 18 million sheeple will be playing is NOT what the original cod was, because it IS dead.

what they are buying is a pathetically easy skill-less game that offers cheap and shallow thrills

-Alpha5551d ago (Edited 5551d ago )

@Chn

Wow, you are at the height of arrogance.

The game is dead because it's not like the original...yet the same people complain that it's a reskin. Make up your minds.

Did you call 18 million people sheep because in YOUR opinion the game is skill-less and cheap? You were kidding, right?

I suppose this means if you play it you will rank in the top score? I can understand calling MW2 cheap, but like many others you use that game alone to act as if this is what the whole franchise is.

The game has always offered me more thrills and excitement than any other shooter. No other game has come close to the intensity of a team tactical game, or being the last guy in S&D. And I assure you that the millions of others also enjoy the game just as much, so please, if you are going to say that it lacks skill, make sure you understand that it's your opinion and that you have no right to call 18 million people sheep as if you know what's good for them

Bell Boy5551d ago

Suck it up all you COD fanboys...you are about to be royally shafted

cmrbe5551d ago

Dam i was hoping for it.

Mr2Good35551d ago

dont care, I will be busy playing KZ3, and other FPS games. This game will be glitzed out in 5 months any way.

Show all comments (57)
50°

Kotick claims lawsuit objecting to MS-Activision deal was "tied to Embracer's desire to boost sales"

Former CEO describes lawsuit filed by Swedish pension fund as a "collateral attack" on Activision Blizzard.

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gamesindustry.biz
OpenGL1d 5h ago

Yeah, the Microsoft deal has DEFINITELY worked out for everyone.

galgor1d 2h ago

Can this mother fucker just get lost already

PRIMORDUS1d 1h ago

He belongs in here ⚰️, hopefully sooner than later.

MrDead10h ago(Edited 10h ago)

Kotick Made $155 million from MS in the buyout, the little b*tch needs to stop whining. Thanks to this Microslop deal and massive industry consolidation thousands upon thousands of devs and other workers lost their livelihoods. This greedy piggie pervert needs shut up and f-off.

160°

Microsoft needs to listen or risk irreparable harm to Call of Duty

Windows Central: "The money may keep rolling in, but Microsoft is the custodian of one of the biggest selling video game series in history. If something doesn't change, I fear we'll reach a breaking point and irreparable damage will have been done."

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windowscentral.com
StoneTitan51d ago

Because ms is so good at managing studios, surely they will get it right

:P

franwex51d ago

In my view, they should probably merge MP with Warzone and essentially make it free to play like Halo Infinite. The campaign/zombies mode can be $30 yearly DLC. I know this would be insanity as most COD players essentially pay the full price of the game simply for the MP. However-with a shrinking player base they may have to consider it. Making it free would bring in a ton of players.

Profchaos51d ago

To late MW3 should have been a lesson but here we are two years later with a steaming pile a shite called blops7

bsingle4051d ago

Nothing lasts forever, eventually something will come along to make people forget about COD

51d ago Replies(1)
1Victor51d ago (Edited 51d ago )

@Oumba:”We’ve heard that story many times before 😂”
You know what we seen many times good franchises been run into the ground by bad management like h___o , f___a and most of the sports game oh I forgot the dynasty warriors
Oh forgot to say
Happy thanksgiving to all the N4G members
🥳 🍗 🦃

MDTunkown51d ago

Halo killer once arrived and technically call of duty killer also arrived, its name is Fortnite

dveio51d ago

Call of Duty was riding the revenue horse and charts for ~20 years. Whether undeserved or deserved.

But I endorse everyone to remind you that Microsoft could have decided differently when they took it over.

The money was certainly there, and they could have taken their time revamping the franchise:

Current-gen tech, manageable microtransactions, not imitating Fortnite and returning to core values of the franchise's origin.

They didn't.

Let's see next year. Hopefully without the then 13 years old PS4 and One hardware.

blacktiger51d ago

you need to stop saying "let see next year"

XBManiac51d ago

dveo is an alias of Phil Spencer?

XBManiac51d ago

dveio is an alias of Phil Spencer?

Show all comments (31)
240°

Microsoft Reportedly Sacrificed $300 Million in Sales With Call of Duty on Game Pass

Microsoft reportedly lost over $300 million in Xbox and PC sales by putting Call of Duty on Game Pass, raising concerns over the subscription model’s long-term impact.

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twistedvoxel.com
maximusprime_104d ago

There are some reports that in March 2023, Microsoft told a court, "Game Pass prices will not increase as a result of the [Microsoft-Activision] Merger."
If true, massive hypocrite .

DaCajun104d ago

If this one franchise is the reason for the game pass price increases, then just leave it off game pass and not make people who don't play COD foot the bill for a game they will never play, like me.

Talk about stupid business decisions.

S2Killinit104d ago

Honestly fuck em dude, they are constantly trying to monopolize the industry instead of just competing.

jeromeface104d ago

MS is full of them.. want another one? wait a couple weeks.

Elda104d ago

Exactly. Keep putting their regular games on GPU day one but big budget games that are very popular like COD should not release on GPU day one, maybe 9 months or a year later once they profit from sales.

RauLeCreuset104d ago (Edited 104d ago )

I don't know if this is a stupid decision. Hear me out. I saw someone comment that it was time to cancel GP and MS would do a 180 like usual. It may be too late this time. It's the history of those other 180s that gives me some doubts about them doing it again or this being a stupid decision versus a cold calculation.

Despite never being the dominant brand, Xbox has at various times tried to push wildly unpopular changes on their customers when they thought they were in a position to get away with it. The 180s came because they overplayed their hand. Customers had options. They lost customers to PS because of the Xbox One launch plans. Anyone who moved to PS4 and stopped gaming on Xbox was a total loss for Xbox.

Customers still have options. The problem for GP subscribers is that most of those options are better for MS than continuing to offer GP as it was before and at the old pricing. Their fans cheered on their acquisitions. Some petitioned regulatory authorities to let the ABK merger happen. Congrats. They are now a dominant 3rd party publisher. Those other options gamers could threaten them with before now work to Xbox's favor.

Other than quitting their games entirely, which now includes ABK, Bethesda, and whatever else they gobbled up, what are upset GP subscribers going to do about it? You can suck it up and eat the price hike. They win. You can cancel GP and buy Xbox games instead. They come out ahead. You can switch to PS, Nintendo, or Steam. So? You'll be paying more for their games their than you were paying for GP, and are they really that committed to continuing to manufacture hardware (in the traditional sense) anyway?

Edit: Making matters worse is that this is likely being driven by pressure from MS, which has increased scrutiny of Xbox since the ABK acquisition.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 104d ago
rakentaja104d ago (Edited 104d ago )

The price would have increased anyway, which was already planned, with or without COD. They didn't lie about anything. You just misunderstood the answer.

PhillyDonJawn104d ago

Yeah they can take CoD off a lower GP. Id take that in a heartbeat.

1Victor104d ago (Edited 104d ago )

@maximusprime:” There are some reports that in March 2023, Microsoft told a court, "Game Pass prices will not increase as a result of the [Microsoft-Activision] Merger."
If true, massive hypocrite .“
.
.
The problem is that you can buy a bakery and tell the community you won’t raise the prices because of the purchase then turn around and raise the prices then say it’s because the ingredients prices when up and be technically telling the truth.
.
Unless the courts would had a agreement in paper that the prices wouldn’t go up for example 5 years there’s no way to enforce it
Edited for typos

Krablante103d ago

It’s worse than that, it’s flat out lying to the courts

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 103d ago
pwnmaster3000104d ago

If this is true, this might be a case of taking a big risk gone wrong.
Is that why they always say revenue and not profit??

My question is, even though they lost 300 million in sales, were they able to offset it.
We might never know.

DarXyde104d ago (Edited 104d ago )

I don't know about you all, but, while that is a lot of money, that's less than I would expect. The totality of game pass users on two platforms playing Call of Duty results in just 300M?

Am I crazy to say that feels like an unusually low amount of revenue?

ocelot07104d ago

It is but for pc gamepass only works on the Microsoft store. Majority of pc gamers don't use any other storefront other than steam. So they wouldn't of sold much on the Microsoft store anyways.

That leaves Xbox one and Xbox Series. $300m does seem low.

rudero104d ago

Well, being that Microsoft is the lowest out of the platforms that sell the game..
Buying Activision, in long term, made up the loss of game sales of said game. By a mile.
But, being cod is tanking as of right now, will be interesting to see if Microsoft can actually save a franchise rather than destroy it.

crazyCoconuts104d ago

They just raised the price of GamePass knowing they would piss off their customers.
You now know - they didn't offset it.

victorMaje104d ago

I’ve been saying for years, you just can’t trust MS period.
1 simple rule, don’t trust MS, act accordingly.

rakentaja104d ago

The price would have increased anyway, which was already planned, with or without COD. They didn't lie about anything. You just misunderstood the answer.

niiopi104d ago

Which is an even bigger reason as to why you can't trust them, they play with semantics instead of being honest and straight forward. Your comment doesnt help their case by putting the blame on the consumer for what and how they said what they said.

PapaBop104d ago

Good, I had hoped Microsoft would be better for Activision and Blizzard than Kotick running the show but that would be expecting Microsoft to be competent at managing studios.

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