Hope you like getting F'd in the A, MW3 to get optional monthly fee

bloodyroarxx

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304563104576355310423496054.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

Consumers are used to paying $60 each for videogames that run on consoles like the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Now the publisher behind the industry's biggest videogame franchise— "Call of Duty"—is about to find out whether it can get them to pay a monthly bill, too.

Activision Blizzard Inc. plans to launch an online service called Call of Duty Elite this fall that will work with the next major edition of the game, "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3," and future installments of the hyper-realistic combat-simulation game. In a move industry executives describe as a first, Activision plans to charge a monthly subscription fee for the service, which will provide extra content that isn't offered on game discs sold in stores, including downloadable map packs that give players new "Call of Duty" levels to play.

Activision executives said they haven't yet figured out how much to charge for the service, but they expect the cost to be less than fees for comparable online-entertainment services, such as a $7.99-a-month Netflix Inc. movie subscription. Portions of the service will be free, including features inspired by Facebook Inc. that will let "Call of Duty" players meet for online gun battles with others who share various affiliations and interests.

Another feature of the service will give "Call of Duty" players tools, modeled on those from stock-trading websites, to analyze their performance within the game, gauging factors such as which weapons have been most successful for them in killing enemies.

Gaslight

I imagine this subject is pretty adequately covered between the video game industry and CoD threads.

Mr.Sunshine

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3," and "hyper-realistic combat-simulation game."

I'm sorry but I just fucking died when I read these two things.

cloudeagle

Gaslight wrote: »

I imagine this subject is pretty adequately covered between the video game industry and CoD threads.

Naw, there's people who are vaguely interested in this development but don't play Call of Duty (since this is the first time something like this has been done on consoles), and those who avoid the armchair financials of the industry thread like the plague.

Personally I think it sucks, but there's plenty of people who will pay money for this.

joshgotro

If map packs are really only available to Elite members they just lost my $super edition

Gaslight

Mr.Sunshine wrote: »

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3," and "hyper-realistic combat-simulation game."

I'm sorry but I just fucking died when I read these two things.

WHO ARE YOU TO QUESTION THE DUAL-WIELDABLE BREAK-ACTION SHOTGUNS?

As I said in the other thread, when the market research company I work for was tasked with bringing in CoD players to give their opinions on concepts and potential pricing plans for this "service," most of them were read to eat it up. I think the arc of the CoD series is pretty much already set, at its zenith now or a little past it, and this won't much decrease or extend its life span either way, but really this is an entirely logical and predictable move by Activision standards.

Major Theef

cloudeagle wrote: »

Gaslight wrote: »

I imagine this subject is pretty adequately covered between the video game industry and CoD threads.

Naw, there's people who are vaguely interested in this development but don't play Call of Duty (since this is the first time something like this has been done on consoles), and those who avoid the armchair financials of the industry thread like the plague.

Personally I think it sucks, but there's plenty of people who will pay money for this.

I am one of those who am vaguely interested in this development, but don't play CoD - ever. Therefore, thank you, kind sir, for this thread.