Neither of these bits of news are confirmed as yet, but could have big implications for the Call of Duty franchise. First up is a report in the Telegraph that Activision could move out of the UK following the Government decision to scrap tax relief for the UK games industry.
Currently employing around 600 developers and other staff at offices in Slough, Berkshire, the chief executive of the U.S publishers, Bobby Kotick, was quoted as saying “I think it was a terrible mistake. There are so many other places which are encouraging the video games industry”.
Subscription model for Call of Duty?
At the same time, industry analysts Wedbush Securities claim that a monetised element to COD online features will happen during the first quarter of 2011. In September Activision itself revealed “new service offerings” designed to “enhance” online revenues.
Obviously this follows the announcement of the First Strike DLC for Call of Duty Black Ops, which launches on February 1st, 2011, and would be a paid download. So what else could Activision and Call of Duty offer? Or is the plan to have some type of DLC Club content? And what would you pay for?
[…] our sister site FPS Prestige recently followed reports Activision could pull out of the UK entirely, following the decision of the UK Government to scrap tax breaks for the games industry. Given that […]