14 DAY TRIAL // Gaming industry analyst Michael Pachter shared his thoughts on Activision and how it might start offering a premium version of the multiplayer mode seen in its massively successful Call of Duty franchise.
Activision has been raking in money hand over fist in the last few years thanks to its Call of Duty titles, all managing to rack up impressive sales and break profit records left and right.
Now, while the most recent title, Call of Duty: Black Ops, is receiving its first paid downloadable content in the form of the First Strike map pack, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter shared his thoughts with IndustryGamers about the future of the Call of Duty publisher.
According to him, even if Activision promised that it wouldn't start charging for Call of Duty's multiplayer mode, it's just a matter of time before the company releases a premium service in which players can opt and pay for certain features in order to have the best experience possible.
"It is likely that Activision will make some effort to monetize its huge multiplayer community in 2011. While this decision won’t likely benefit packaged products sales, it should drive overall industry sales higher."
Call of Duty fans are very dedicated and eager to pick up any new iteration, so they'll prove instrumental in the success of this new idea.
"Activision has benefited mightily from the 'network effect' caused by its large multiplayer community—if all of your friends buy Call of Duty: Black Ops, you must buy it as well, since there is nobody left playing the prior year’s version."
The new, multiplayer-only version won't have any impact on the modes of the regular game, however.
"The company appears laser focused on keeping its multiplayer community engaged and content, so we do not expect any changes to the existing 'free' service; rather, we think that Activision will carefully create a new layer of optional premium content, priced competitively to allow consumers to opt for those features they wish, and pass on other features," Pachter explained.
Once Activision will start offering the service and generate a lot of profit, Pachter says that other companies will soon follow, so these new premium multiplayer-only type of releases will become more frequent.
As of yet, however, the future of the Call of Duty series is still shrouded in mystery, so we don't know what Activision may be planning for it.