14 DAY TRIAL // An executive working for the publisher Activision Blizzard has stated that the company currently has no plans to charge for the multiplayer component of Call of Duty, saying that the mode is part of the game package and as such will always be available for all those interested as long as they get the titles in the series.
Speaking to Industry Gamers as part of a bigger interview Eric Hirshberg, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Activision Publishing, has stated, “Are we going to be charging for multiplayer? The answer is no. 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.”
He added, “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. There are certainly a lot of behavioral shifts toward 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.”
Of course the comments seem to only apply to the titles in the Call of Duty series which Activision has already launched and the publisher reserves the right to create a more MMO like experience based on the game universe which would surely come with a subscription price and exist alongside current multiplayer modes.
Recently Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision, has said that, presumably from a business point of view, he would like to have a subscription service built around Call of Duty “tomorrow”.
The recent Black Ops managed to generate revenue of 650 million dollars in its first five days on sale.