Activision Creates Beachhead Studio to Develop Call of Duty Content
In the "vague news" catagory:
From Joystiq.com:
Did you know "about as many people have played Black Ops as there are members of Netflix?" That should, hopefully, put into perspective how massive the Call of Duty audience is -- and why Activision's Bobby Kotick is so focused on "the sustained online engagement and enjoyment of Call of Duty audiences."
Map packs have been generating big bucks for the company, so it's no surprise that Activision has created a new "wholly owned" studio, Beachhead, to work exclusively on "the development of an innovative new digital platform and special services for our Call of Duty community," Without going into specifics, Kotick said that Beachhead's role would be to "[focus] on the delivery, digitally, of new, innovative Call of Duty content and services [that] will enable tens of millions of players around the world to continue to enjoy the experience that Call of Duty offers."
This sounds like a potential subscription service, something Activision has expressed interest in the past. Since then, the company has promised "never" to charge for multiplayer. So, what could this possibly mean? More map packs? Or is Activision proving Pachter, who has long predicted subscription fees for the franchise, right?
Update: Kotick described "Project Beachhead" in further detail. The full quote is offered after the break.
"Beachhead will create the best-in-class online community, exclusive content, and a suite of services to supercharge the online gaming experience like never before. The platform will support in-game integration and bring online experiences and console play together for the first time. The platform has been in development for over a year and we're very excited about the increased value we can bring to the community. We look forward to sharing more specifics on this exciting new endeavor with you in the near future."
Source
And then from Shacknews.com:
During today's Q4 2010 earnings call, Activision hinted at a digital future for the Call of Duty franchise, though the company was cagey on what precisely that would entail.
The announcement revolved around Beachhead, a new wholly owned Activision studio founded "to create an online community and suite of services for fans," according to Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg. The platform has been in development for a year, and the publisher promises more details soon.
When asked if the planned service will involve subscriptions, CFO Thomas Tippl said the company is "not ready" to discuss details yet.
Only a year ago Hirshberg promised the company would "never, ever" charge for Call of Duty multiplayer, but the Beachhead plans seem more geared toward selling services and community features. The company also announced plans for a Chinese Call of Duty iteration, which would be free-to-play and microtransaction-based. Beachhead may be developing the groundwork for a similar model here.
Source
And finally from Gamesutra.com:
Source
Looking at all three of these articles we get a picture that this may be an online game title like EA's Play4Free series of games. It is confusing though because DLC is talked about as well as in-game integration, which a browser style game usually just has content added automatically. I'm sure more news will be following as this new title heads toward release and further details clear up what this Call of Duty title will be.
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From Joystiq.com:
Did you know "about as many people have played Black Ops as there are members of Netflix?" That should, hopefully, put into perspective how massive the Call of Duty audience is -- and why Activision's Bobby Kotick is so focused on "the sustained online engagement and enjoyment of Call of Duty audiences."
Map packs have been generating big bucks for the company, so it's no surprise that Activision has created a new "wholly owned" studio, Beachhead, to work exclusively on "the development of an innovative new digital platform and special services for our Call of Duty community," Without going into specifics, Kotick said that Beachhead's role would be to "[focus] on the delivery, digitally, of new, innovative Call of Duty content and services [that] will enable tens of millions of players around the world to continue to enjoy the experience that Call of Duty offers."
This sounds like a potential subscription service, something Activision has expressed interest in the past. Since then, the company has promised "never" to charge for multiplayer. So, what could this possibly mean? More map packs? Or is Activision proving Pachter, who has long predicted subscription fees for the franchise, right?
Update: Kotick described "Project Beachhead" in further detail. The full quote is offered after the break.
"Beachhead will create the best-in-class online community, exclusive content, and a suite of services to supercharge the online gaming experience like never before. The platform will support in-game integration and bring online experiences and console play together for the first time. The platform has been in development for over a year and we're very excited about the increased value we can bring to the community. We look forward to sharing more specifics on this exciting new endeavor with you in the near future."
Source
And then from Shacknews.com:
During today's Q4 2010 earnings call, Activision hinted at a digital future for the Call of Duty franchise, though the company was cagey on what precisely that would entail.
The announcement revolved around Beachhead, a new wholly owned Activision studio founded "to create an online community and suite of services for fans," according to Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg. The platform has been in development for a year, and the publisher promises more details soon.
When asked if the planned service will involve subscriptions, CFO Thomas Tippl said the company is "not ready" to discuss details yet.
Only a year ago Hirshberg promised the company would "never, ever" charge for Call of Duty multiplayer, but the Beachhead plans seem more geared toward selling services and community features. The company also announced plans for a Chinese Call of Duty iteration, which would be free-to-play and microtransaction-based. Beachhead may be developing the groundwork for a similar model here.
Source
And finally from Gamesutra.com:
Activision has unveiled its newest owned studio, Beachhead, which will be tasked with creating all of the company's new digital initiatives for the Call of Duty brand, including online community, content and services initiatives.
Activision publishing president Mike Griffith made the announcement on the company's Gamasutra-attended year-end fiscal results call, where he said Beachhead planned to "bring the online experience and console play together for the first time" through a "platform [that has been] in development for over a year."
"We're very excited about the increased value we can bring to the community," he added, driving home the company's plans to focus on the high-profit opportunity in the online space.
"The DLC we have planned for Call of Duty alone should have more commercial potential on its own than most standalone console games," he asserted.
Activision publishing president Mike Griffith made the announcement on the company's Gamasutra-attended year-end fiscal results call, where he said Beachhead planned to "bring the online experience and console play together for the first time" through a "platform [that has been] in development for over a year."
"We're very excited about the increased value we can bring to the community," he added, driving home the company's plans to focus on the high-profit opportunity in the online space.
"The DLC we have planned for Call of Duty alone should have more commercial potential on its own than most standalone console games," he asserted.
Source
Looking at all three of these articles we get a picture that this may be an online game title like EA's Play4Free series of games. It is confusing though because DLC is talked about as well as in-game integration, which a browser style game usually just has content added automatically. I'm sure more news will be following as this new title heads toward release and further details clear up what this Call of Duty title will be.
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