Occupy CoD!

On the 8th of November, Activision’s Modern Warfare 3 releases.

Normally, this would be a date I would highlight in my calendar with a thick Sharpie, but not this time around.

The release of any Call of Duty title has always been treated as a high-holy-day by all PC CoD fanatics like me. Running to the video game store to pick up my pre-order copy was a yearly ritual that I looked forward to on par with Christmas, my Birthday or changing my underwear.

However, things changed for us hardcore PC players a few years ago during the infamous MW2 no-dedicated server release. I won’t restate all the wrongs Infinity Ward, MW2′s developer, inflicted on us poor PC players; however, I’ll let this webcast do the trick:

Bottom line: After MW2, though some will say after CoD4…things have never and will never be the same. CoD is no longer targeted at the truly hardcore PC community, a community that started the whole CoD ball rolling in the first place back in CoD:UO. Instead, it is focused at the average, casual console player.

Though CoD:Black Ops did try to passify the PC community by bringing back, for example, dedicated servers (though in a restricted fashion), it continued the recent trend of making CoD appeal to the lowest-common-fragger. Sorry…console fragger. A litany of anti-competitive features have now “dumbed-down” the game to the point that anyone with a palpable heart-beat can win at the game.

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Every CoD game in succession seems to be even more of a console-style game than its predecessor and gameplay continues to be watered down. The move to attract casual gamers has been hugely successful for CoD’s publisher, Activision-Blizzard (ATVI). During this summer’s shareholder meeting, ATVI stated that revenues exceeded $1.7 billion and they reported that there were upwards of 30 million players playing online. This September, Activision-Blizzard told the media that they expected pre-orders for the new Modern Warfare 3 to “shatter” all previous CoD-title records.

CoD’s success has been nothing short of phenomenal over the years. To the left is a graph showing ATVI’s stock price since 1992. This chart is a testament of its success.

While ATVI’s stock price was skyrocketing, the unemployment rate in the States was rising nearly lock-step. Purchasing power for the middle class, the same class that was the primary target of Call of Duty’s marketing campaigns, vaporized after the 2008 financial crisis.

Though they must see their customer base struggling from today’s fiscal realities, Activision has been more than happy to conjure up ways to hoover-up every last penny from them. Costing only fifty dollars a year before, the game now will retail for sixty bucks. For fifty dollars more you can subscribe to ATVI’s latest cash-cow, the Premium Elite service. Another 60 dollars will get you four DLC’s. And as a first time offer, you can get the game, the Elite Premium and all the DLC for only $100! Wow, nicely done ATVI…doubling the price of a game in just two years.

Occupy CoD

Watching the news recently, I am sure that many of you have seen the Occupy Wall Street movement that started in New York and is now spreading around the world. I must admit, this anti-greed, anti-establishment movement resonated with me a little…why not apply the ideas to gaming? And then the thought struck: Occupy Call of Duty!

Of course, we can’t just look like a bunch of whingy, disaffected nerds randomly QQ’ing about some random, eclectic nuance in the game. No. We need some type of universal demand.

• Ban shotties? Nah.
• Bring back quick-scoping? No…I hate snipers.
• Less spam? Mmmmh…getting rid of those aimbotting choppers would be nice.

…no wait, I’ve got it:

CoD F2P

Give us CoD for free!  That’s right, make CoD F2P. That’s the big trend in games lately and by doing so Activision, currently resented for over-and-above greed, could become our hero in the epic struggle against corporate evil.

What’s in it for Activision? Think about it, in one swell-foop you could completely eliminate the trade of illegally cracked versions of the game and in the process, you could probably triple the CoD user base. This could kill off their competition. In fact, CoD’s going to be given a run for its money this year by BF3, but if CoD went F2P, you could kiss BF3 good-bye as CoD’s install numbers would be stupendous.

But how would ATVI make any money? The same way Valve made $2M in Mann Store sales in TF2: microtransactions. Microtransactions could be optional, but you shouldn’t need to pay for the game; not unless you wanted a premium gaming experience. Add in-game advertising into the mix and the whole thing would be explosive.

While ATVI will be doing an F2P Call of Duty China version, I say this is intrinsically unfair to the developed world. It’s high time we stop getting the short end of the chopstick here in North America. Activision, give us CoD for free.

Day of Protest

We could set aside the day after MW3′s release day as a day to protest ATVI’s unabashed greed and demand CoD F2P. How about an in-game, in-map sit-down? Rather than playing MW3 on that day, protesters could just go in-game and simply crouch.

No running. No gunning…just crouching. Every once in a while, protesters could type “Occupy CoD“, “Shame!“, “Down with ATVI greed,” or something similar in chat, just in-case the server admin thinks your AFK.  Of course, now that I think about it…I probably won’t be able to do the crouch protest. Um, not because I can’t crouch (ya, I have a bad back), but because for the first time, I won’t be buying MW3.

So, what can someone like me, who’s not getting sucked into the CoD hype-vortex, do instead? Well, here’s a multi-point plan that will be sure to send a message to corporate fat cats like ATVI:

• Don’t buy any game backed by a giant corporation. Avoid any game that is sold by a company listed on the Stock Exchange.
• For that matter, don’t buy anything at all.
• Trade games, don’t buy them.
• If you have a job, try and get fired or quit. By keeping your income low, you won’t be able to buy any new games and you will only be able to afford the F2P ones.
• Grow your own food. You’ll need to as you’ve just quit your job.
• Insulate your mobile home; after all, winter’s coming.
• Take your money out of the bank! If you like, I can hold onto it, until the crisis passes.

I doubt anyone will protest of course. Gamer’s are way too apathetic to fight for a cause. So how about this: on the 9th of November, just sit at your computer, munching on Doritos and play BF3 like you have been, but do it wearing a Che Guevera T-shirt. That’ll show those corporate oligarchs who’s boss.