So judging from my Xbox Live friends list this weekend the Call of Duty franchise has all of us gamers right where they want us. The new Escalation map pack was released on Tuesday and I, along with a good portion of my friends list, downloaded it.
Now I know the $15 price tag seems like a lot of money, and it is. But I somehow couldn't resist. I had managed to resist all of it up until someone said the three words I am most vulnerable to, double experience weekend. That was it, I was done. I went home Friday night and downloaded the the new map pack. I know, I'm week. And I know I could just play the maps I already had. But they were NEW and different. Not to mention there was a playlist just for people who had them. I wanted to be one of those people. So I downloaded it and was very excited to jump back into the multi-player experience I had enjoyed so much.
And then reality sunk in as got my ass kicked, over and over. All that made me want to do was play more. I wanted to feel what I had before and every kill gave me just a little more of what I was looking for. This game, I realized shortly after spending the better part of the evening working my way back to the high I had when I played months ago, is an addiction. I want my fix. I want the little numbers to pop up and tell me I not only got a kill, but a head shot, and ended a that persons kill streak, all while earning my own attack chopper. It's a drug, and Activision knows it. Looks at how far the maps packs are spaced out and how they use the double experience weekends to draw you back in. Halo took strides in the persistent online shooter that no one else had thought of through their leveling mechanic and matchmaking system. Infinity Ward took what they learned watching Bungie and made it better. Through the perk and unlock systems they created not only a new community, but a new addiction.
Slowly but surely, Activision, with the help of Infinity Ward and Treyarch have built the first shooter franchise capable of supporting itself as a service instead of a yearly franchise. Now is the opportune time for Bobby Kotick to jump on the MMO band wagon. The announcement of the announcement of Modern Warfare 3 being teased and Activision saying the next Call of Duty will have an accompanying “online universe” make it seem like Activsion agrees with me. From what we've heard so far Activision is is not only dumping tons of funding into MW3 but is putting any studio that isn't already working on a AAA game on it as well.
I'm calling it now, Activision announces Call of Duty: Modern War for all consoles and PC at E3 2011. It will be the first real MMOFPS. It will have an online universe complete with factions and nations. You will be able to customize your character classes online and track your matches and progress through a Bungie.net type system. New content such as maps and skins will be released monthly and will be included in your monthly subscription. Title expansions will be released quarterly or bi-annually that will allow you take the war to new locals and upgrade you to the newest weaponry.
Or maybe I'm having a fever dream. But wouldn't it be cool if I wasn't?
Like I said in the beginning. They have us where they want us. Now let's see if they have the guts to pull the trigger.
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