Analyst: Activision Should Monetize Call of Duty's Multiplayer For Shareholders

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Posted December 6, 2010 - By Nikole Zivalich

A research note released today suggests that stock-holders won't be happy until Activision implements an additional fee for players who wish to participate in any CoD multiplayer modes. According to an analyst, keeping Call of Duty's multiplayer free is "a betrayal of shareholder trust."

Michael Pachter, a Wedbush analyst, suggested that Activision's decision to not charge players an additional fee for multiplayer is "a serious strategic error." Pachter went on to say, "We firmly believe that until the publishers address monetisation of multiplayer, game sales will continue to be challenged by the publishers' altruistic decision to provide significantly more entertainment value per hour than ever in history."

This is a response to Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg's promise that Activision would never charge for "out of the box" CoD multiplayer. However, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said he would charge Call of Duty players a subscription service "tomorrow" if he had his way.

The Call of Duty franchise is known for its multiplayer. CoD: Modern Warfare 2 and CoD: Black Ops are among the most popular played games on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. Would you continue to play if you had to pay a subscription fee? Pay-to-play didn't work out so well for APB: All Points Bulletin, could this be beginning of CoD's downfall?

Source: CVG