Activision boss refutes Call of Duty subscriptions once again
Hirshberg: "We will never, ever charge for the multiplayer"
Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg has responded to ongoing speculation that the company is intending to add a multiplayer payment plan to future Call of Duty games.
"Are we going to be charging for multiplayer? The answer is no," Hirshberg told IndustryGamers.
"The experience you have out of the box, connecting with the online community to play Call of Duty is absolutely integral to the experience... It's not going to be something we'll attempt to monetise; it's part of the package."
Talk of plans for a COD subscription fee has previously been refuted by Activision Blizzard head Bobby Kotick, although it was his own prior comments on the desirability of such a scheme which kick-started the speculation.
A particularly strong voice behind claims that Activision wants to add a fee on top of Xbox Live subscriptions has been Wedbush's Michael Pachter, who at one point predicted such payments for Black Ops. (He later adjusted this assertion).
Observed Hirshberg, "He's probably looking at meta-trends in the world and in culture about online services and new ways things should be monetised from Netflix to cloud-based computing.
"At the end of the day, all I'm trying to get across is I can unequivocally say we will never, ever charge for the multiplayer."
Activision made it clear in a recent investor Q&A that DLC would play a significant part in ongoing Black Ops revenues.