By Jim Rossignol on May 6th, 2011 at 8:11 pm.
UPDATE: Our informants tell us it’s some kind of stats tool. BORING!
Something’s happening in Call Of Duty world! Our sinister agents have picked up some information about Activision preparing to make a major announcement regarding the Call Of Duty franchise, and it sounds like the PC could be at the heart of it: Call Of Duty Online. We understand that the “online solution” Activision have been hinting at might finally be ready to be shown to press. No other details now, but I’m going to speculate that this is Activision’s big move against EA’s Battlefield Play4Free and the like.
Will it be a browser-based shooter? A free-to-play MMO? A side-scrolling beat ‘em up? We’ll find out soon!
06/05/2011 at 20:16 Acorino says:
Sound like big boring news, alright!
06/05/2011 at 20:19 doeke says:
After years of Call of Duty offline, they are now finally implementing a multiplayer version? Maybe you can even shoot other people over the internet.
06/05/2011 at 20:21 mlaskus says:
Don’t be silly, we all know that’s crazy talk. Who on earth would like to do that? No one, that’s who!
06/05/2011 at 20:24 airtekh says:
Multiplayer manshoots? Poppycock I say!
06/05/2011 at 20:25 Michael Hoss says:
Actually THAT WOULD SHOW US! (to bring back a good old insider)
06/05/2011 at 20:47 President Weasel says:
Feh, they released a patch for CODBLOPS that made it unplayable for me. Then they just… left it.
I shall be getting my manshooterings from other companies in future.
06/05/2011 at 20:23 paterah says:
I’m almost certain I’ve read somewhere before a Call of Duty online version being developed for the Asian audience.
06/05/2011 at 20:37 Defiant Badger says:
Maybe your thinking of WARFACE.
FACE OF WAR.
06/05/2011 at 21:18 passingstranger says:
Or he could be thinking of WAR ROCK.
I think guns would have been a better choice, but rocks are fine too.
06/05/2011 at 22:33 Teddy Leach says:
FACEWAR. FACEWAR. FACEWAR.
07/05/2011 at 01:00 Tams80 says:
@ passingstranger
Ah, WAR ROCK. I remember that. Damn was it buggy the last time I played it!
06/05/2011 at 20:28 omicron1 says:
But… but… how will they sell expensive yearly sequels, then? Will they have to focus entirely on singleplayer?
06/05/2011 at 20:35 Defiant Badger says:
Focus on singleplayer!? Are you mad? Well… perhaps that’s a little excessive but what I mean to say is that Activision definitely would make who ever is developing these games to include multiplayer.#
Edit: Oh dear, it would appear my sarcasm detectors are broken.
06/05/2011 at 20:43 pl4t0 says:
Microtransactions.
Remember how LOTRO doubled its revenue by going F2P?
06/05/2011 at 22:25 mpk says:
LotRO is awesome. I bought a hat with fake money!
06/05/2011 at 23:22 Daiv says:
Microtransactions in Call of Duty?
“Aaargh! Soap! The terrorists have launched a nuclear missile! Again!”
“Oh no! There is an infinite number of terrorists between us and the console with a big red conspicuous ‘press to save world’ button, but we’ve run out of bullets! And we’re dangerously low on exclamation marks!”
“Hold on, Soap! We’ve found a shop! Lets buy some more ammo! You brought your credit card, didn’t you?!”
07/05/2011 at 10:43 DrGonzo says:
Is it really that hard to double fuck all though?
06/05/2011 at 20:31 kalidanthepalidan says:
side-scrolling beat ‘em up! side-scrolling beat ‘em up!
06/05/2011 at 22:13 Groove says:
It’s clearly going to be an X-COM homage.
06/05/2011 at 20:41 trooperdx3117 says:
An mmo might be novel in the angry war in the middle east CoD setting. I can picture the quests already:
“Go collect twelve terrorist turbans to level up” how amazing would that be?!
06/05/2011 at 20:47 Keymonk says:
… okay, I think I might try that out for the laughs.
06/05/2011 at 21:04 MrWeed says:
And the starting area would be an airport in which you shoot unarmed civilians to level up.
06/05/2011 at 21:06 Arglebargle says:
Can’t have that! Must have a campaign where your foes are appropriately named ‘Opposing Forces’…..
06/05/2011 at 21:13 MrWeed says:
I’d also like to see Bagdad as a PvP area!
07/05/2011 at 00:01 Raiyan 1.0 says:
Turbans will be to CoDFree what hats are to TF2.
06/05/2011 at 20:51 Grey_Ghost says:
Winter is coming.
06/05/2011 at 22:34 Teddy Leach says:
You just reminded me that I’m not going to see a new Game of Thrones episode for several days. THANK YOU FOR THAT.
07/05/2011 at 00:01 Creeping Death says:
It is a rather painful wait, isn’t it? :/
07/05/2011 at 22:41 Joshua says:
Its not as painfull as the wait for the new book.
Although soon we can Dance with the Dragons! :D.
06/05/2011 at 21:09 Teronfel says:
Call of Duty Free
06/05/2011 at 21:12 Jim Rossignol says:
*Gold Star*
06/05/2011 at 21:18 Man Raised by Puffins says:
CoDFree has a nice ring to it, although by this point, he says as he adjusts his disgusting pedant hat to a jauntier angle, it should really be MMOdern Warfare Free.
Edit: Christ, I’m slow tonight.
06/05/2011 at 21:35 ad_hominem says:
@Teronfel Genius.
06/05/2011 at 22:39 BooleanBob says:
Something else you can do in a Russian airport. No taking it on the plane, mind you.
06/05/2011 at 21:30 Napalm Sushi says:
Manthrows: the new manshoots?
06/05/2011 at 22:26 mpk says:
Or a masturbation sim.
06/05/2011 at 22:30 moyogo says:
Like dodge ball, but you have to throw players at other players. So constant cat and mouse trying to pick someone up / not let yourself get picked up. I would play it.
07/05/2011 at 00:46 Durkonkell says:
Moyogo: I would also play this. Somebody make it.
Then perhaps someone from Valve will play it, hire you and in Portal 3 we’ll have to chase other test subjects and hurl them to complete objectives…
06/05/2011 at 21:41 Pantsman says:
They’re probably going to go after some of those Portal 2 dollars and make it a puzzle platformer.
06/05/2011 at 22:02 P3RF3CT D3ATH says:
How about no.
06/05/2011 at 22:09 Kaltano says:
Clearly it will be a facebook farming game where you harvest everything by throwing a knife into it’s eye.
06/05/2011 at 22:25 mpk says:
That would be awesome if the “things” were people’s profile pics.
06/05/2011 at 22:33 KindredPhantom says:
Perhaps it is some new kind of DRM to be used in future PC versions of Call Of Duty.
06/05/2011 at 22:54 bigtoeohno says:
RPS just got sourced by IGN covering a call of duty exclusive. I recommend strapping ourselves in this could mea we’re about to get inundated
06/05/2011 at 23:03 moyogo says:
We’re already strapping.
06/05/2011 at 23:16 Daiv says:
And I’m already inundated.
06/05/2011 at 23:01 godkingemperor says:
WoW with guns
06/05/2011 at 23:16 Daiv says:
Is this their version of Ubi-uber-DRM? Call of Duty: You Have To Be Online To Play?
06/05/2011 at 23:20 Colthor says:
Hmm… Isn’t “free to play” pretty much the antithesis of Activision’s philosophy with Call of Duty?
Or just of Activision’s philosophy.
06/05/2011 at 23:30 Man Raised by Puffins says:
Because moneyhats: http://www.insidesocialgames.com/2010/06/10/super-whales-spend-money-virtual-goods/
06/05/2011 at 23:31 CountMippi says:
If I see the term “manshoot” one more time I’m putting a shotgun barrel in my mouth.
Yes, I’m aware of the irony.
07/05/2011 at 00:13 mpk says:
So… are you just going to sit there for a while? I mean, once you have the shotgun barrel in your mouth, what’s the plan?
07/05/2011 at 00:20 Nick says:
there are safer things to practice fellatio on.
07/05/2011 at 10:47 DrGonzo says:
Yeah, I’m finding it irritating too.I don’t see how it is funny.
07/05/2011 at 13:34 Urael says:
How about you come up with better then, gents, rather than just expressing irritation? What would you see in its place? Fellafrags? Bloke-Deadening? C’mon, light those creative fires!
07/05/2011 at 00:27 DiamondDog says:
I think it’ll be great.
07/05/2011 at 01:45 theleif says:
Misread the headline as: Call Of Duty Online Reveal Nerds.
And i thought how? Surely, a real nerd like me would never play a COD game? Except the first two, of course. So maybe that’s how we are revealed! And then i read the article. Then i reread the headline.
Anyway, they’ve got to us. Emergency meeting tomorrow at the docks. No splinter nerds allowed.
07/05/2011 at 02:30 passingstranger says:
In all seriousness, this could be a deviously profitable venture for EA. Granted, this leaves all of their console fans out in the cold, but I’d bet a lot of their rabid PC fans would be chomping at the bit to spend a little money here and there to get an edge over the competition. If Battlefield Heroes can be profitable even with its fairly apparent flaws, I bet an (admittedly) tightly designed shooter could just clean up given the right payment model.
How EA will react when someone eventually tells them that you typically can’t make a sequel to a free-to-play game like this is anyone’s guess, however.
07/05/2011 at 03:04 Davie says:
I am so, so tired of [Game Name] Online. No other genre so regularly feels the need to assert itself in the titles of its games. Incidentally, games with this sort of title seem to flop, pretty regularly.
07/05/2011 at 16:17 Rii says:
Well there was that whole ’3D’ thing back in the late 90s…
07/05/2011 at 03:10 remover says:
Could we, just for once, have a COD multiplayer game where the maps feel like they’re larger than a shoebox?
I am so sick and tired of this multimillion dollar crap that SOMEHOW sells millions of copies, yet plays like games made in the 90s – and looks like it too. We’re BEYOND all that. Give us awesome beautiful large maps full of space for tactical maneuvers and exploration and ambushes… no more people playing “sniper” in maps that are no larger than the size of most people’s backyards where anyone on the map is within pistol range almost at all times.
07/05/2011 at 04:41 sexyresults says:
No hats no sale
07/05/2011 at 04:48 Lacobus says:
It’ll be monthly subscription service surely? Koticks been interested in those dollars ever since he looked at the numbers for Wow. It has bad and good implications for sure. Bad= money. Good = constant map packs, game updates, maybe special events, tournaments.it may be the change cod has needed for a while…
07/05/2011 at 04:54 alilsneaky says:
Combining the cod community with the average f2p community?
Are they trying to create the halfwit singularity?
This is another one of those things that if you had told anyone ten years ago (cod online) and explained the concept to them, they would have spat out their coffee and laughed until you closed your mouth and stopped talking.
07/05/2011 at 18:39 PiiSmith says:
Made me laugh. One entertainment point for you!
07/05/2011 at 08:09 Baboonanza says:
World of COD!
07/05/2011 at 09:18 Yosharian says:
Hopefully this will be the end of the COD franchise as we know it
07/05/2011 at 10:17 Tei says:
More news about Call of Duty on RockPaperShotgun.com blog Wait…
07/05/2011 at 10:25 juandemarco says:
I would be content with a multiplayer only version containing ALL the maps from ALL the previous chapters. And maybe finishable zombies levels. Lots of them.
07/05/2011 at 11:48 Zarunil says:
Snoozefest of Yawns: Comatose Online. Bound to sell a quadrillion copies, regardless.
07/05/2011 at 13:30 Urael says:
Jim, never have I decried your inability to comment on RPS images more than in this case where you passed up on writing something witty about THAT screenshot.
07/05/2011 at 14:03 Aldehyde says:
Hopefully this online solution will work as well as their IW,net. It made it so much easier to connect and play in groups. No problems in connectivity at all. Nope. None!
09/05/2011 at 03:57 Dakia says:
Activision and F2P!?!?!
LOL