News

Activision "always going to be the jerk," says Blacklight dev
Posted: 10.06.2011 12:31 by Simon Priest Comments: 4
Call of Duty Elite and its subscription plan for game content has really rubbed Blacklight's Zombie Studios the wrong way. It's "sad" and "really weird," they say.

They ask why aren't the huge profits from the series "evolving the game even more?" They're "amazing" games but over the last four was there "anything really new?"


"I don't agree with it. Right now, if they could, they'd charge 60 bucks, then 20 bucks a month for a map pack -- or even just one map -- and then $9 to upload game movies to YouTube," said Blacklight: Retribution lead designer Jared Gerritzen of Zombie Studios.

"They see this massive fan base, and why aren't they spending that money and evolving the game even more?" Activision caught 'subscription fever' ever since the Blizzard merger and they gained access to the huge World of Warcraft pot of gold.

"They're amazing games," he added, "but looking across the last four games, was there anything really new? That's the sad part. Think about if they tried to spend that money that they're trying to milk from the fans."

"It's sad. It's really weird. But there's always going to be that guy; there's always going to be the jerk." The game industry 'jerk', if you will, was rival publisher EA once upon a time but they've come a long way in repairing their relationship with gamers.

Is Call of Duty: Elite a senseless milking of fans? Zombie sure thinks so.
Source: CVG

Comments

By Knave (SI Core) on Jun 10, 2011
Knave
I couldn't agree more with this dev. The last several CoD games have been little more than pretty big-budget reskins.

There's no reason to charge what they're charging for the game/ map packs and elite other than to increase investor profits which is really sad.

Because instead of the gamers getting a fresh/new product, it all goes to rich stock investors.

Fun series but it has to stop treating it's fanbase like a dairy farm.
By herodotus (SI Herodotus) on Jun 10, 2011
herodotus
Bob Kottick has been pushing for a paid online service for ages now, including paying for MP in "CoD". He's finally got his way, sort of but it could and should prove to be his demise. Greed is greed, and that's apparent here.
By JPerry06 (SI Core) on Jun 11, 2011
JPerry06
the reason i have a ps is coz there is no online fee. i do love the COD games and enjoy playing them but i dont want it to get to a stage where i cant fully enjoy it unless i pay extra for just some maps. Yes i have downloaded map packs before and i have accpeted that. not sure i will go for the elite though.
By Revan (SI Elite) on Jun 11, 2011
Revan
I'll wait until Modern Warfare 3 goes for like $5 on ebay. And then Maybe I'll buy it.