Mon, Oct 15, 2012 | 16:26 BST
Black Ops 2 season pass confirmed, £34.99 for 4 map packs
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is getting an online season pass, Activision has confirmed. It has been priced at £34.99 and nets you four map packs. Get the details below.
The news comes as Treyarch announces that Call of Duty: Elite is going entirely free to make way for the new season pass DLC model.
Here’s Activision’s confirmation statement:
Supporting Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Activision will be selling four epic new DLC Map Packs both á la carte and through the introduction of the Call of Duty: Black Ops II Season Pass.
Coming to the Xbox LIVE online entertainment network first, the four Call of Duty: Black Ops II DLC Map Packs will deliver a variety of new Multiplayer and Zombies playable content and are expected to be available in 2013.
The Season Pass will deliver all four Call of Duty: Black Ops II DLC Map Packs at a discounted suggested retail price of 4000 Microsoft Points on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360
Activision’s Eric Hirshberg added to the announcement , “For Call of Duty: Black Ops II, DLC Map Packs will be a separate offering from Call of Duty Elite. The Season Pass will be a great way to acquire all four Map Packs at a discount, but if our fans would rather take it one Map Pack at a time, then we’ll offer each pack á la carte for anyone who wants it.”
“What we aren’t doing is requiring a paid membership to access the great player services for Call of Duty: Black Ops II and we’re thrilled to offer all of Elite’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II features to players for free.”
What do you think? Is this all getting a tad pricey, or is it a fair deal? Let us know below.
15 comments
#1
dex3108
15/10/12, 9:10 am
It is too much. MP DLCs should be free. Why? Well if i purchased game that have MP i expect that developers/publishers keep that MP experience fresh. Also with this they will divide players and that is bad. But this is how industry works today money, money and money only.
#2
DrDamn
15/10/12, 9:35 am
Excellent mishmash of dollars and pounds there Activision. Really helps with getting your message across.
@1
It’s unrealistic considering the cost of development, balance and QA for a modern video game to still expect this unfortunately. Especially for a popular game where there is a willing audience ready to pay. It’s a reality, you can’t justify expecting these for free.
#3
dex3108
15/10/12, 9:46 am
@2
Well that is not a problem they only need to publish map maker/mod tools. Modern Warfare 1 is game that got free maps and free mod tools and today there are people that are playing that game. But as you said audience is willing to pay so why should publisher ignore that.
#4
abcthjm
15/10/12, 9:51 am
Thank you for your post!
#5
KrazyKraut
15/10/12, 11:09 am
35 GBP? I get a new game for that.
#6
ps3fanboy
15/10/12, 11:57 am
full game price tag for 4 maps that you event dont know if will suck or not… NO THANKS ACTIVISION!
#7
scott_wright
15/10/12, 12:05 pm
I bought the MW3 hardened edition from HMV for £80, that gave me 24 “drops” of content, 11 Multiplayer maps… say the game was £45 new that means those Eleven maps cost me £35… so yeah not really a good deal is this?
please correct me if my numbers are wrong.
#8
K-V-C
15/10/12, 12:29 pm
if you bought call of duty elite 3 months ago for mw3 do we still get these free aswell ??
#9
marshall
17/10/12, 1:13 pm
It is 4 map packs not 4 maps, we got 4 map packs for MW3, Each pack had 3 or 4 maps plus other stuff, we will most likely get 3 or 4 maps and some Zombie content fro each map pack
#10
G-STAR01
21/10/12, 4:38 pm
It is getting pricey.
I’m buying the Hardened edition from Tesco for £53 and then on top I will have to spend £30 on these maps. I will be paying £83 for one game.
Ofcourse it could be said that I’m getting extra content but the price is unreasonable. A reasonable price would have been 1800 points.
Having said that, I will most likely end up paying 4000 points on this season pass.
@DrDamn, how much do you think developers earn?
Do you know their profit margin for a single CoD game?
If they wanted to, they could give us plenty of map packs for free because the actual game sales would easily cover that.
@K-V-C, no. You will only get MW3 content with that.
#11
YoungZer0
21/10/12, 4:40 pm
I wouldn’t even pay that much for a game, let alone a few shitty maps. God, the game industry is just full of greedy fucks, isn’t it?
#12
OlderGamer
21/10/12, 5:38 pm
So the game costs 110usd to have in full. So long as there is an audiance willing to pay it(as it has been pointed out), they will continue to do this. And EA does the same thing. This is the mega publisher effect.
We had a forum thread about a next gen wish list. One of my hopes is that we move away from this type of biz model. I doubt we will. I am guessing we will see more of it instead.
#13
YoungZer0
21/10/12, 5:57 pm
Definitely. As long as it is successful, there is no reason to think it’s going anywhere.
#14
OrbitMonkey
21/10/12, 8:18 pm
Thing is, this damages the industry. The average gamer isn’t going to buy 2-3 FPS games if they all come with a season pass. They’ll by 1 & that’ll do for the year.
Industry wants people to buy more games? Try giving dlc away. I know crazy! But I’d bet money MoH would be a bigger hit if EA announced the first 3 of 4 map-packs would be free.
#15
dotafreedom
03/02/13, 4:41 pm
i didn’t spend a penny, i just used a pass generator from : http://blackops2seasonpassgenerator2013.blogspot.com/
but yes it’s fun with the nuketown 2025 zombie pack, you wont regret it !