CoD 2011 to be digital download? News

Activision has announced the formation of a new studio to focus on the development of an “all-new digital platform” for the Call of Duty franchise. The new studio is called Beachhead, and the platform has already been in development for over a year.

“Beachhead will create a best-in-class online community, exclusive content and a suite of services for our Call of Duty fans” revealed Eric Hirschberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, in an investor call yesterday.
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“The platform will support in-game integration and bring online experiences and console play together for the first time.”

While Activision didn’t reveal precisely what services the new platform will offer, CFO Thomas Tipl stated that they “expect growth in online revenues” for the Call of Duty franchise “driven by the release of more downloadable content”. Close to a third of the publisher’s total revenue now comes from digital channels.

Could access to this new platform require a subscription charge? Tipl's response: "no comment".

"We're not yet ready to talk about the details of Beachhead, but when we are, we are going to present in detail what the content is, what the services are, et cetera. So you just have to stay tuned on that."

Another possibility is that Activision might be planning to increase the availability of full CoD games for digital download.

“We've always said that the big are getting bigger, but not only are the big getting bigger in retail” noted Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard.

“We have also leveraged our internal platforms to offer audiences choice and convenience through the provision of direct distribution of Blizzard games. We expect to enhance the Call of Duty experience in similar ways with our new digital platform from Beachhead.”

Activision also announced a free-to-play micro-transaction based Call of Duty title in development for the Chinese market, but revealed that it was not set for release until after 2011.