Blog

Activision on CoD: “Never, Ever Charge for Multiplayer”

24 Nov

Despite long-standing rumors that Activision is looking to monetize on the multiplayer-aspect of the immensely popular Call of Duty series, CEO of Activision Publishing Eric Hirshberg has stated that even though the company is seeing an increasing shift towards long-standing online relationships between consumers and publishers, the company will “never, ever charge for the [Call of Duty] multiplayer.

Though he indicated that this would specifically hold for all of the content that comes “out of the box,” he did not provide any statement regarding additional, post-release services that would require an additional charge:

“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. […] Nothing we or anyone else tries is going to work if it doesn’t have tremendous value for people and add a tremendous value to the gaming experience.”

(more…)

Sony Ericsson CEO Hints at PSPhone

22 Nov

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Nordberg has spoken out regarding the rumors that have recently surfaced regarding the PSPhone, which is supposedly codenamed “Zeus.” Regarding the currently unannounced project, Nordberg stated that “there’s a lot of smoke, and I tell you there must be a fire somewhere.” Rumors indicate that the telephone will come from the Xperia brand of Sony Ericsson, and run on Android.

Nordberg added that it would make a lot of sense for the organization to be working on such a project, seeing as “Sony has an extremely strong offering in the gaming market, and that’s very interesting.” He further stated that the current generation of smartphones, which generally utilize touchscreens, are not optimized for videogames. Nevertheless, releasing a phone specifically designed to also be a gaming platform might pose problems with regard to right issues, but Nordberg stated that he was “very glad that we work with a company like Sony, who actually knows how to do it.”

Previously, Nordberg announced that he was planning to make “a lot of noise” in anticipation of a new product that is to be revealed at the World Mobile Congress, set to held in Barcelona, Spain, in mid-February. (more…)