Activision Will "Never" Charge for Call of Duty Multiplayer

In mid-June, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick sent shivers down the spines of Call of Duty players everywhere. When asked by the Wall Street Journal what one thing he would change about his company, he bluntly said, "I would have Call of Duty be an online subscription service tomorrow." That sentiment was echoed by Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter three weeks ago, when he predicted Activision would find a way to monetize the shooter series' wildly popular online modes.

Thankfully, the idea of charging for Call of Duty online multiplayer has been shot down--by none other than Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg. "Are we going to be charging for multiplayer? The answer is no," he told Industry Gamers this week. "The experience you have out of the box, connecting with the online community to play Call of Duty is absolutely integral to the experience, and we'll never charge for that. It's not going to be something we'll attempt to monetize; it's part of the package."