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dbot on 14 November 2009
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Slimebeast said:
dbot said:
Slimebeast said:
dbot said:
I am sure that dedicated servers will return for the next COD. They only problem is they will come with a subscription model.

What tipe of subscritopn model? Casn u xplain how that works?

Sure, you buy the game and pay a monthly fee to Activision to play online.  The current retail model doesn't work for games any longer due to rentals and pirates. Moving to a subscription based model would allow the publisher to gain revenue from these people.  It's the Warcraft model for other genres.  

Are these your own speculations though (and maybe some industry speculation and analysis)?

Because Ive never heard any concrete plans about this so far.

It's speculation, but I think it will happen sooner than you think.  Kotick has been dropping hints for the last couple of years.  The latest article is included below.  I think the dedicated servers issue on pc is a precursor to a monthly service fee.  I think the next COD will include a monthly service fee for dedicated servers.  This will probably include consoles as well.  

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/104/1044965p1.html

November 12, 2009 - The online business models for many of Activision's key franchises could start to change in the near future. 

During today's BMO Capital Markets Conference, CFO ofActivision Blizzard Thomas Tippl was asked if the successful World of Warcraft online business model will ever translate into the publisher's other major franchises, such as Guitar Hero and Call of Duty. While Tippl said WoW's model is difficult to replicate, players should expect new monetization models for its other titles soon enough. 

"It's definitely an aspiration that we see potential in, particularly as we look at different business models to monetize the online gameplay," said Tippl. "There's good knowledge exchange happening between the Blizzard folks and our online guys." 

"We have great experience also on Call of Duty with the success we had on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. A lot of that knowledge is getting actually built into the Battle.Net platform and the design of that," he added. "I think it's been mutually beneficial, and you should expect us to test and ultimately launch additional online monetization models of some of some of our biggest franchises like Call of Duty." 

Tippl added there is a demand from its core fanbase willing to pay for additional services and content. 

"Our gamers are telling us there's lots of services and innovation they would like to see that they're not getting yet. From what we see so far, additional content, as well as all the services Blizzard is offering, is that there is demand from the core gamers to pay up for that," Tipple explained. 

A supposed leaked online survey from June possibly hints at what Tippl is driving at. The survey centered around the idea of a monthly service that gives subscribers additional multiplayer and gameplay enhancements for future Call of Duty titles.



Thanks for the input, Jeff.