31 May, 2011

WSJ: Call of Duty and the Modern Revenue Stream

Though the lying punks at Activision Blizzard have been denying for months stacked upon months stacked on top of years that they would never charge players to play the most pedestrian of games with the simplest gameplay and the greatest amount of sales (dumb sells), it has been announced that this is EXACTLY what they will do.

While no price has been announced, Activison Blizzard feels that a Netflix based subscription plan isn't totally ridiculous. You know, because tracking your stats and hooking you up with fellow lazy-minded fraks online is worth paying for especially if you think COD is the greatest game God ever handed down from the lamest heaven ever.

Sure, the free-to-play online model will still exist (free meaning they don't charge more than the $60 they already charged you for a game you will play for 5 hours offline) but this new "elite" scheme will probably come with options and content that they would have otherwise included in the game if not for the fact that they realized simpleton converts would pay more for less.  After all, it has worked well for the EA Sports franchises, why not COD?

What say you, COD players?  Will you continue to suck on the exhaust pipe of this franchise or is it time to move onto something else?  When did COD jump the shark? Is Treyarch the devil?! Can the new Infinity Ward compare to the old? Is Respawn ready to dance on the grave of these tools?