Developers voice their opinons on FPS subscription models

The videogame industry is in an unique position right now. We are seeing online gaming become as important (if not more) than the single-player experience. As gamers spend more of their time playing online multiplayer, publishers such as Activision are figuring out ways to charge for that privilege. The theory behind this business model is simple. If a gamer is going to spend over 100 hours playing a game online for free, publishers have to spend money to keep the service active. A game such as Modern Warfare 2 has millions of gamers playing online everyday. If all of them had to pay at least $5 extra per month to play online, Activision would need to buy a separate building just to store the extra money.

Gamasutra asked the opinion of a few developers of first-person shooter games about how they feel about subscription models for online play. The results were mixed and very intriguing. It serves as a window as to where the industry is moving.

Let’s take a look at two of those developers with conflicting opinions.

Tripwire Interactive vice president Alan Wilson is against subscriptions.

“It would make me feel like I have paid the money to buy a new car and then I have to pay Ford to be allowed to drive it every day too. I know they need the money — but they won’t be getting it that way from me.”

Wilson doesn’t think gamers should be forced to pay subscriptions for online FPS games. He feels the extra fee should provide significant changes to the online experience such as,”persistent worlds, ever-expanding gameplay, [or] giant servers.”

Wilson’s final quote says it all.

“While I really wouldn’t like a subscription model for online games, someone like Activision could certainly try it out. But make the player buy the game and pay subscriptions? No, just seems greedy.”

Not every developer feels the same way. Zombie Studios CEO Mark Long defends Bobby Kotick’s idea of subscription models.

“Merging [business models of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft] makes a ton of sense when the vast majority of Call of Duty players are playing online. How is the fanbase going to respond? If there was an MMOFPS version of Call of Duty with World of Warcraft-quality RPG elements under the hood, I’d bet it would be the biggest game in history. I’d play it. I’d play the fuck out it Long said.”

I agree with long to an extent. I would consider paying a monthly fee for a Call of Duty game with a similar depth and leveling up incentives as a MMO. However a game such as Modern Warfare 2 is not an MMO by any stretch. If Activision can provide me with a totally new FPS experience in an open world, I would jump onboard. It can’t just be a game with random maps that last for several minutes and then stops.

Via [Gamasutra]