It was only a few months ago that Bobby Kotick was complaining that even though over 50% of Xbox Live traffic belongs to Activision titles they don’t see any of that revenue being paid to Microsoft.
Well now it appears that they have wangled a deal with Microsoft and they are now getting a slice (a modest amount, apparently) of the $5 per month for every Xbox Live Gold Subscription… and it doesn’t seem to matter if we play an Activision game or not.
I’m not sure how I feel about this to be honest, I mean I would never pay a subscription to play Call of Duty as I don’t play it enough to justify that but I do understand that Activision want to see a return on their investment in the title.
However it starts getting messy when this comes to light because I am sure EA Games will be expecting some sort of return now that Activision is getting some and what about Bungie with Halo 3 or Rockstar with Red Dead Redemption? Where does it end?
Not to mention that none of these companies are getting a cent from Sony for the online play so would it then be fair to only charge PSN and PC players for online play?
It just feels like we slid onto a slippery slope here and the recent $10 increase in Live subs is only the beginning.
Source: Joystiq
Last Updated: November 25, 2010
C Le Grange
November 25, 2010 at 14:34
I knew it!I knew it!
…header image so creepy!!
piet
November 25, 2010 at 15:02
mmmm not cool
easy
November 25, 2010 at 15:38
but it’s ms’ infrastructure, ms’ hardware! activision only supply software/content for the console. if they want piece of the pie, then they should rather request subscriptions extra to live, then we all have to pay irrespective of your chosen platform.
live is looking more like a way to make a quick buck than a service worth it’s weight in…
greedy c****!
PCL
November 25, 2010 at 15:54
Today is very funny with a lot of irony.
PS3 guys are mad because black ops are not up to scratch and they have to pay the same price.
Now this story comes out with regards to xbox. I’d say do what the PS3 guys are doing…
Overall this might cause massive problems. If one strikes and get what they want then others strike…
If activision gets a cut then the others will want also…and guess who has to pay.
Tyler
November 25, 2010 at 21:11
Bungie is now owned by Activision…
franky
November 26, 2010 at 03:28
EA will now make M$ increase its price again because they want in on it =D
J
November 26, 2010 at 08:16
Something something something darkside….
Ladunia
November 26, 2010 at 13:51
No. It’s not.
Geoffrey Tim
November 26, 2010 at 13:59
Ladunia’s right…they’re independent, they just have a 10 year/3 game publishing deal with Activision