“I would have Call of Duty be an online subscription service tomorrow,” said Activision’s Bobby Kotick just recently, lamenting at how he believes that 60% of Xbox Live subscriptions exist because of the Call of Duty franchise. He pointed out that even though millions upon millions of gamers are paying to play Call of Duty online, Activision does not see any of that cash.
For a while it seemed like this was where Activision was steering the famous franchise, and concerns about a Call of Duty: Black Ops subscription fee emerged. Even famously vocal industry analyst Michael Pachter chimed in, predicting that the next CoD would require continuous payment in order to play online.
Then the below video was posted on Youtube.
Dubbed “evidence that Activision planned to charge for Modern Warfare 2,” the video clearly shows an in-game screen with the heading “Modern Warfare 2 Membership,” with a membership and balance indicator built in.
Activision has responded, telling IGN that “reports of a subscription membership in Modern Warfare 2 are not true,” and perhaps more importantly, “Activision has no plans to charge gamers to play Call of Duty multiplayer.”
Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling posted further details on his blog. “The video above seems to show a user on what appears to be the Xbox Live Gold Membership renewal page via the Marketplace in the guide, but while in-game in Modern Warfare 2 (which is in error). It does not however, prove a pay-to-play subscription model is in the works for Modern Warfare 2, because no such plan exists for this or any other Call of Duty (including the upcoming Black Ops). That said, feel free to cease freaking out.”
Treyarch’s Josh Olin tweeted further confirmation. “No, you will not have to ‘Pay to Play’ #CODBlackOps Multiplayer either. Rumor -> Squashed.”
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