Analysts Predict “Pay for Play” in Call of Duty’s Future

By Contributer Matt Sims

An analyst firm is making a bold statement, one that contradicts Activison CEO Eric Hirschberg’s declaration that the company will not be charging for Call of Duty multiplayer in 2011. The firm, Wedbush Morgan, states that the announcement will come in the coming months

“Activision remains a top pick, primarily due to the company’s potential to create and monetize a second tier of multiplayer online gaming for its Call of Duty franchise,” the analysts say. ”We expect this to occur during the first quarter of 2011.”

Perhaps there is something else in the cards for the popular franchise, such as a spin-off or even an innovative MMO. There are many possibilities that would warrant a paid online component separate from Xbox Live or PSN. One also has to wonder how Microsoft and Sony would react to an announcement of this magnitude, since there are many subscribers who only play Call of Duty online. If this deal does affect the current Call of Duty games, we could see a sharp decline in membership renewals for both companies during the next year.

Of course all of this is just speculation, and until an official announcement is made there is little to no proof that this will come to pass. However, it is well known that Activison’s Bobby Kotick is a man in relentless pursuit of money, and with millions of Call of Duty players online on any given day a “second tier” for multiplayer may be a way to cement the company’s fortune for years to come.

Please Recommend RipTen on Facebook

TAGS: , , , , , , , , ,

Related Articles

  • Syphon_Filter5

    Iam dome with this sh@t Call Of Duty and to anyone who will pay to play this waste of time game, you for sure have no brain. So many great games are coming in this year that will sh@t on Call Of Duty.

  • http://www.myspace.com/deathstrikevirus DeathStrikeVirus

    I’d suspect that they do something similar to Battlefield Play4Free or Combat Arms. The game would have to be seriously good for anyone to consider paying to play it. Many decent pay to play mmo’s have had to switch to micro-transactions and free to play just so they can compete.