Anything involving “Call of Duty” – the videogame industry’s largest franchise – is big news in the gaming circles.
So Monday evening, word of a plan for an online service called “Call of Duty Elite” started spreading through gaming blogs and forums like wildfire.
And how are gamers reacting to the new service, parts of which will require a monthly subscription fee?
First of all, it’s important to keep something in mind: People don’t like to give up more of their money. This is just a general rule.
But in addition to the expected “gaming companies are greedy” comments, there is a lot of confusion about exactly what the new service will involve – and just what people will get for their money.
That disconnect is coming in large part because “Call of Duty” maker Activision doesn’t seem to have ironed out all the details yet. Activision executives told The Wall Street Journal’s Nick Wingfield that they haven’t yet figured out how much to charge for the service – although the Journal reports that it will likely be $7.99 or less. They have said parts of the service will be free, but there are conflicting reports about what exactly those free parts will include.
“Announcing a service like Elite without clearly defined tiers and a pricing structure only invites speculation and confusion,” writes Christopher Grant at Joystiq.
A couple of things Activision has made clear: You’re not going to have to use “Elite” or pay for a subscription in order to play “Call of Duty.” For that, you just have to buy the $60 game. And “Elite” isn’t charging for multiplayer gaming. In other words, you’re not going to have to pay to play your friends online, either.
Something else that will come for free on “Elite”: a Facebook-like social-networking service for players that will let them meet for gun battles and the like. The service, called Groups, is getting good reviews from bloggers who have had an early look. The system, which allows you to easily create affiliations rather than playing against random 12-year-olds, “is exactly what’s been missing from the online console gaming experience,” Mr. Grant writes.
And there will be at least one other free offering: a service called Career that compiles extensive stats on your gaming.
It makes sense that these services would be free, at least in part. The big money here isn’t in charging people for some “Call of Duty” version of Facebook; it’s in keeping people addicted to the franchise.
As Wired’s GameLife blog explains: “Elite is an ambitious strategy to keep players locked into the world’s most popular shooter as social and mobile games suck up bigger and bigger chunks of gamers’ attention.”
There are also features that will almost certainly cost money – including downloadable map packs that give players new levels to play. These map packs have previously been sold separately, but it’s possible that joining the service could allow for more bells and whistles, better pricing or earlier access.
Still, the Journal reported that Activision was “coy” about precisely what it would be offering, andArs Technica blog said an Activision executive was “unwilling to comment on a specific price or what features would be free and which would come with the premium service.” Many fans seemed concerned that Activision’s plan just wasn’t clear.
So Monday evening, word of a plan for an online service called “Call of Duty Elite” started spreading through gaming blogs and forums like wildfire.
And how are gamers reacting to the new service, parts of which will require a monthly subscription fee?
First of all, it’s important to keep something in mind: People don’t like to give up more of their money. This is just a general rule.
But in addition to the expected “gaming companies are greedy” comments, there is a lot of confusion about exactly what the new service will involve – and just what people will get for their money.
That disconnect is coming in large part because “Call of Duty” maker Activision doesn’t seem to have ironed out all the details yet. Activision executives told The Wall Street Journal’s Nick Wingfield that they haven’t yet figured out how much to charge for the service – although the Journal reports that it will likely be $7.99 or less. They have said parts of the service will be free, but there are conflicting reports about what exactly those free parts will include.
“Announcing a service like Elite without clearly defined tiers and a pricing structure only invites speculation and confusion,” writes Christopher Grant at Joystiq.
A couple of things Activision has made clear: You’re not going to have to use “Elite” or pay for a subscription in order to play “Call of Duty.” For that, you just have to buy the $60 game. And “Elite” isn’t charging for multiplayer gaming. In other words, you’re not going to have to pay to play your friends online, either.
Something else that will come for free on “Elite”: a Facebook-like social-networking service for players that will let them meet for gun battles and the like. The service, called Groups, is getting good reviews from bloggers who have had an early look. The system, which allows you to easily create affiliations rather than playing against random 12-year-olds, “is exactly what’s been missing from the online console gaming experience,” Mr. Grant writes.
And there will be at least one other free offering: a service called Career that compiles extensive stats on your gaming.
It makes sense that these services would be free, at least in part. The big money here isn’t in charging people for some “Call of Duty” version of Facebook; it’s in keeping people addicted to the franchise.
There are also features that will almost certainly cost money – including downloadable map packs that give players new levels to play. These map packs have previously been sold separately, but it’s possible that joining the service could allow for more bells and whistles, better pricing or earlier access.
Still, the Journal reported that Activision was “coy” about precisely what it would be offering, andArs Technica blog said an Activision executive was “unwilling to comment on a specific price or what features would be free and which would come with the premium service.” Many fans seemed concerned that Activision’s plan just wasn’t clear.