Industry analyst insists publishers charge for multiplayer

8 December 2010

Michael Pachter just won’t drop this ridiculous idea that gamers should pay subscriptions for regular online multiplayer. Sometimes, I wonder if Michael Pachter is really Bobby Kotick in a latex mask. Of course, Pachter makes a living predicting trends in the industry, so I guess this monetisation of multiplayer thing not happening is kind of a black mark on his credibility score.

“We firmly believe that until the publishers address monetization 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,” he says in a recent interview with Gamasutra.”In our view, monetisation of multiplayer is one of the greatest opportunities for the publishers, and we think that it would be a serious strategic error to pass on this opportunity.”

Apparently Pachter hasn’t realised that the real cash printer is premium DLC – and providing free multiplayer is the surest way to maintain a market for it.

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