“Call of Duty: Black Ops 2” may still be the number one most played multiplayer game on Xbox Live but it's never too early to start thinking about the next “Call of Duty” game called “Modern Warfare 4.” Specifically, what role micro-transactions will play in the game.
Micro-transactions came to “Black Ops 2” last week, and will arrive with certain "Micro Items": cosmetic enhancements that will not affect gameplay.
If micro-transactions are already here, would it be too difficult to imagine that the same system will also come to next the iteration of the super successful game?
Speaking at the Game Monetization Summit in San Francisco last year, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said that Activision, publisher of the "Call of Duty" franchise, was making a huge mistake by not charging players more for access to the multiplayer component of “Call of Duty” games.
“[Activision] trained gamers that you can buy a game and play it all year, ten hours a week, forever, and you never have to pay again,” Pachter said. “The World of Warcraft guys are paying $180 a year, and the Call of Duty guys are paying $60. So who’s got a better model?”
What we do know is that there will be a “Call of Duty” game later this year. The introduction of microtransactions in “Black Ops 2” is a clear indication that the company is trying out a new system, and if it is successful, gamers will surely see it when the next “Call of Duty” game arrives.
