The recent DLC has caused a great deal of consternation for fans of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, with many arguing that charging $15 for five maps (of which some are rehashes from the first Modern Warfare) was too much. While 25 percent of the game’s owners purchased the maps, EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich thinks there could be some push back down the line.
“It reminds me a lot of oil prices over the last five years,” writes Divnich. “When the oil shortage hit, prices skyrocketed, and most consumers had no choice but to pay the market price. After all, it wouldn’t be economically feasible to trade in your gas guzzling SUV on such short notice, nor feasible to search for a new job with a shorter commute. However, over the long-term consumers changed their behaviors, and they began to purchase more hybrids, they bought smaller cars, found jobs closer to home, or began to telecommute. At the same time, companies such as Exxon Mobil were posting record profits measured in the billions and by no coincidence they quickly reached the top of many ‘Most Disliked Companies’ lists.”
“The long-term implications with Activision and the Call of Duty brand may be similar, in that the cost to continue to be a part of the Modern Warfare 2 circle is now much higher than what consumers anticipated, he continues. Sure, in the short-term it doesn’t seem like the higher priced DLC negatively impacted sales, but it could in the long-term. Future Modern Warfare 2 content could actually under-perform, washing away all the financial upside from the Stimulus Package. Activision could have very well sold 2.5 million map packs at $15, at the cost of selling two map packs at $10 each at 2.5 million units.”
Source: IndustryGamers {link no longer active}
