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Home News Pachter Says Activision Should Charge Subscription Fees For CoD Multiplayer

GAMING NEWS

Pachter Says Activision Should Charge Subscription Fees For CoD Multiplayer

Posted on Friday, December 7 @ 09:16:01 Eastern by Keri_Honea


Michael Pachter, research analyst at Wedbush Securities, provided the opening speech at the Digital Game Monetization Summit yesterday. In his speech, he made several bold claims as Mr. Pachter is wont to do, one being that he believes Call of Duty is failure due to the fact that Activision doesn't charge fees for the multiplayer.

"Call of Duty, I'm calling it a failure," Pachter said. "I know the game sells billions of dollars. Activision did a bad thing with Call of Duty from a profit perspective. They trained gamers that you can buy a game and play it all year, ten hours a week, forever, and you never have to pay again. You just wait for the next Call of Duty. I promise you there are plenty of people, numbering in the millions, who play one game, which is Call of Duty, and they never stop. That's just like the people who play World of Warcraft and never stop, yet the World of Warcraft guys are paying $180 a year, and the Call of Duty guys are paying $60. So who's got a better model? This multiplayer thing being free was a mistake. I don't think anybody ever envisioned it would be this big. It's a mistake because it keeps those people from buying and playing other games.”

One could argue that Activision has attempted this model before with the Call of Duty Elite program, not to mention all of the DLC packs they sell for $15 a pop (and sell 2-4 million of just map packs, by the way).

The funniest part of this whole tirade was that at the end, after he basically scolded Activision for not charging for multiplayer, he said the following:

"Prediction: The next Bungie game will be single-player only; the multiplayer aspect of that game will be subscription only. Activision's going to try it, because they're greedy pigs, and they're bold.”

First they're failures for not charging a subscription for CoD multiplayer, and then they'll be greedy pigs if they do? Sounds to me like Activision is damned if they do, damned if they don't in Pachter's eyes. In the gamers eyes, I bet they'll be damned if they do, but plenty of people will cough up such a subscription, at least for a few months.

[Source]
 
Tags:   Michael Pachter, Activision, Call of Duty


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Comments
  • UghRochester
    UghRochester
    Joined: Jun 2006
    Posted: Dec 7th, 2012 at 9:41 am
    What an ass clown. Sure you don't have to pay for PSN, but Xbox LIVE you have pay for their service. I dislike having multiplayer subscriptions in games. Who created the online pass, EA? It was the beginning of douchebag developers.
    0 3
  • Jobin_Wendy
    Jobin_Wendy
    Joined: Mar 2012
    Posted: Dec 7th, 2012 at 9:53 am
    Fuck Pachter.
    0 3
  • cereal13killer
    cereal13killer
    Joined: Nov 2008
    Posted: Dec 7th, 2012 at 9:56 am
    The COD franchise attracts a lot of casual gamers playing a couple of times a week - or less. If Activision tried to make COD a pay-to-play service, I wouldn't buy the game, nor would anyone else I know. With the exception of WoW, many of the other "pay-to-play" services are going free because they lack users. Pay-to-play would see the end to the franchise.
    0 1
  • wildmario
    wildmario
    Joined: Jan 2007
    Posted: Dec 7th, 2012 at 10:00 am
    Patcher is just a paid troll. Trolling is done so well nowadays that people are making money off it. A hugely selling franchise fails because....it's not doing something to make even more money and then they are greedy for doing so?



    Ladies and Gentlemen, I present Jack Thomson 2.0.
    0 1
  • oblivion437
    oblivion437
    Joined: Nov 2006
    Posted: Dec 7th, 2012 at 4:11 pm
    I'm pretty sure the sequel to Jack Thompson is called "Anita Sarkeesian".
    0 0
  • Chunibrow
    Chunibrow
    Joined: Mar 2010
    Posted: Dec 7th, 2012 at 10:41 am
    Adding a subscription would kill CoDs amazing selling power, and we know how much Activision cradles that power like a baby by how fearful they are of changing CoDs formula in case it upsets the applecart. If they ever add a subscription fee me and millions of others will suddenly be playing a lot more Halo.
    0 1
  • Lien
    Lien
    Joined: Feb 2008
    Posted: Dec 7th, 2012 at 11:13 am
    Funny... A couple of weeks ago, Patchter said that the Wii U will not succeed mainly, among other reasons, because of the lacks of DLC support. Not one GR mention on this cept maybe for Jonathan Leack (which was actually more a concern then a report). Now, Patchter says that Call of duty needs subscription, "WHAT A TROLL! AMIRIGHT?"
    I ain't defending Patchter here, i agree with some of his talk point and disagree with most of them (like this one here) like anyone else in his field of work. But i got this feeling after scrolling through other Patchter articles that GR got an anti-Patchter agenda here. Be it intended or not, *points at comments above*, it seems to be working.
    0 0
  • wildmario
    wildmario
    Joined: Jan 2007
    Posted: Dec 7th, 2012 at 11:14 am
    Well maybe people are anti-Patcher because the guy says things that either never came true or are just plain nuts? Same thing happened for Jack Thompson and he was ten times more insane.
    0 1
  • Chunibrow
    Chunibrow
    Joined: Mar 2010
    Posted: Dec 7th, 2012 at 1:04 pm
    How was my comment anti Pachter, I didn't mention him once. Are you a troll or illiterate?
    1 1
  • moretokes
    moretokes
    Joined: Apr 2011
    Posted: Dec 8th, 2012 at 9:21 pm
    It's ok I get what you meant.
    0 0
  • sandineyes
    sandineyes
    Joined: May 2008
    Posted: Dec 7th, 2012 at 11:19 am
    I hesitantly agree that CoD could use a subscription model for their multiplayer. But, they would have to release map packs and content updates that normally accompany major releases for free. Then they can sell the single player campaigns standalone for a reduced price.

    Modern Warfare 3 with all of its DLC would already cost 120 dollars, so removing the high cost of entry would probably provide a better deal for people who only play CoD for single player and a few months of multiplayer before getting bored, while milking the people who play CoD for years, constantly.
    0 0
  • drathbone
    drathbone
    Joined: May 2011
    Posted: Dec 7th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
    I don't think a subscription model would be successful. It's been several years w/o one, I think it would put a dent in the franchise more than make it be profitible (brb playing BLOPS1 since BLOPS2 has a sub).

    I'm sure they could monetize the game further with crap exclusives that aren't unlockable. You know, F2P ****. $1.99 48 hour double exp
    0 0
  • ballabert
    ballabert
    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posted: Dec 7th, 2012 at 12:08 pm
    This guy...
    Why not just say "Your consumers who pay your salaries are morons and you're not taking advantage of them enough"
    0 0
  • xclant
    xclant
    Joined: Nov 2005
    Posted: Dec 7th, 2012 at 1:41 pm
    One thing he says rings true to me as ive experienced it personally My best friends younger brother is about 15 years old all he plays is COD and that's it COD,COD,COD whenever we try to put on a different game to break the boredom like say PS all stars which is something even the kids can play all we hear is Childish EMO comments like THIS GAME IS DUMB or PUT MODERN WARFARE BACK ON...... Doesn't sound like a big deal but after 20 minutes of it breaking any concentration you manage to get your ready to kill someone........ Forcing a few fees might snap these little idiots out of it.... Its a shame they cant somehow isolate these people and only charge them....
    0 0
  • OdiousLupous
    OdiousLupous
    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posted: Dec 7th, 2012 at 8:38 pm
    People really enjoy a game and play it a lot... lets charge them repeatedly for playing with other people, whats the worst that could happen? Squeezing every penny out of your consumer base seems illogical especially in this day and age, sometimes I wonder what this guy must think about on his free time.
    0 0
  • Heath_Hindman
    Heath_Hindman
    Joined: May 2011
    Posted: Dec 8th, 2012 at 2:10 am
    No, the game should be $30 off the shelf. If you want to play multiplayer, you have to buy an online ticket for $30 more.

    For most people, the cost of the game would not change... but for meeeeee, it would be cut in half!
    0 2
  • oblivion437
    oblivion437
    Joined: Nov 2006
    Posted: Dec 8th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
    You'd still be paying $6/hour for entertainment. Isn't that even worse than a night at the movies?
    0 0
  • Heath_Hindman
    Heath_Hindman
    Joined: May 2011
    Posted: Dec 8th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
    You're one of those guys?
    I'm not one of those guys.
    It's cool.
    0 0
  • moretokes
    moretokes
    Joined: Apr 2011
    Posted: Dec 8th, 2012 at 9:24 pm
    No ... At the movies it's 575 w\o tax for popcorn plus they charge extra for big title movies
    0 0
  • UghRochester
    UghRochester
    Joined: Jun 2006
    Posted: Dec 9th, 2012 at 7:04 am
    Sounds good! Too bad that won't happen.
    0 0
  • moretokes
    moretokes
    Joined: Apr 2011
    Posted: Dec 8th, 2012 at 9:24 pm
    Plus I have to pAy for my girlfriend
    0 0

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