The "Things That Used To Be Free Aren't Free Anymore" trend in gaming seems to be growing, much to the dismay of non-thousandaire gamers everywhere. For example, industry analyst Michael Pachter is urging Activision to step up and make the first move towards monetizing multiplayer services offered by Triple-A titles.
From an article today on MCV, Pachter says:
"We think that it is incumbent upon Activision – with the most popular multiplayer game – to take the first step to address monetization of multiplayer. It is too early to tell whether that will be a monthly subscription, tournament entry fees, micro-transaction fees, or a combination of all three, but we expect to see the company take some action by year-end, when Call of Duty: Black Ops Releases."
Oh! Thank you for giving them so many options they can use to nickel and dime us, Michael!
Pachter also said that all the time gamers spend playing the same game over and over again online takes away from the time they could be playing other games, thus, not as many units are being sold and to make up for it, multiplayer should be pay-to-play.
Think this sounds like a bad idea? Would you be mad if Activision suddenly made something that used to be free a paid service?
