Activision plans pay-to-view game movies

By Fred Dutton Published 16 September, 2010

£20 a pop for extended cut-scenes.

Activision plans to distribute feature-length videogame cinematics.

Boss-man Bobby Kotick made the prediction while discussing StarCraft II's hour-long pre-rendered cut-scenes at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference in California.

"If we were to take that hour, or hour and a half, take it out of the game, and we were to go to our audiences - for whom we have their credit card information and a direct relationship - and say to them, 'Would you like to have the StarCraft movie?'... and say we have this great hour and a half of linear video that we'd like to make available to you at a $30 or $20 price point, you'd have the biggest opening weekend of any film ever," Kotick said.

"Within the next five years you are likely to see us do that... There will be a time when we capitalise on the relationship that we have with our audience and deliver them something that is really extraordinary and let them consume it directly through us instead of through theatrical distribution."

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (85) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • the_sas_man #1 2 years ago

    Is it April Fools Day?

  • LazyDan #2 2 years ago

    Haha, no.

  • mingster #3 2 years ago

    He really just wants us to hate him with the things he says.

  • M_of_the_sys #4 2 years ago

    Off

    His

    Rocker

  • Bitkari #5 2 years ago

    Oh, now I remember why I was worried when Blizzard merged with Activision...

  • linksdad #6 2 years ago

    When you can buy a Hollywood blockbuster, great acting, superb dialogue and with real actors and stuff on blue ray for $15 why would anyone want to (presumably) stream some badly voiced self indulgent tosh for twice the price?

  • MoFo #7 2 years ago

    Erm £20 for cut and pasted together rendered game cinematics or £10 for a full cinematic 3D experience at the cinema. Sure, whatever Mr Activision.

  • Fab4 #8 2 years ago

    Its what every gamer dreams of...extended cut-scenes :-D

  • Altrezia #9 2 years ago

    I didn't realise just how far out of touch that idiot was. Yes, we'd all love to pay MORE than a real movie for in-game-scenes. Numpty.

  • DarkMoon #10 2 years ago

    *puts on accountants hat* interesting hmmm.......

    *puts on gamers hat* NO THANK YOU

  • SYS64738 #11 2 years ago

    "and we were to go to our audiences - for whom we have their credit card information and a direct relationship"

    I don't know but somehow that sounds a bit like planned credit card fraud...

    'Give us your money or else we'll take it ourselves.'

  • supermaniacs #12 2 years ago

    Will you for once just shut that hole in your face and just fuck off!!!

  • NimbusTLD #13 2 years ago

    That wouldn't even work! It would make no sense, as some of the story is told during gameplay. I remember seeing a Halo Wars movie pirate DVD while in Peru, I bought it on curiosity and it turned out to merely be the game's cutscenes put together, meaning the story pretty much made no sense.

  • menage #14 2 years ago

    Screw that, I'd rather buy another game then some leftover cutting floor crap.

  • mc_mclovin #15 2 years ago

    While i can understand him wanting to make even more money for activision..............Really?? he's totally lost the plot, its like everything he says is designed to bait gamers into hating him even more. Its like he revels in it or something!!

    Also, anyone else find the " for whom we have their credit card information" comment slightly sinister??

    Really, if i was activision, i would stop this man from ever being seen in public, let alone being able to talk to journalists!!
    Edited by mc_mclovin at 16/09/10 @ 09:32

  • login_name #16 2 years ago

    Someone please stop him before we're charged per button press.

  • richarddavies #17 2 years ago

    He is insane. He is literally saying why don't we take out the cutscenes in our games and charge you to see em. Im I reading that right? He thinks people will find it cool to pay for the cutscenes? what a flange.

  • metalangel #18 2 years ago

    It would be just like "interactive movies" were in the 90s, only with even less interactivity!

  • Ignatius_Cheese #19 2 years ago

    BOOM! Right in the kisser!

  • evilbert #20 2 years ago

    If they reduced the purchase price of the game by 20-30 quid and made it optional to purchase an extended cut scene (but not the ones that give sense to the story, obv) then this might be something we could consider but otherwise, feck off guy.

  • Restart #21 2 years ago

    Then they can charge £20 per level, £5 per weapon unlock, & £10 per character unlock.

  • Phreez #22 2 years ago

    Oh God. Make him stop.

  • ISmoke #23 2 years ago

    And just when you think he can't get any lower he pulls this stunt.

    He's a retarded genius, he has to be.

  • naffgeek #24 2 years ago

    I think he is a Kevin Butler type made up PR guy who says these things to cause us all to go mental, then when Activision do something that would normally piss us off it seems ok by comparison.

    Genius.

    Either that or he is just a massive c$%t.

  • darkmorgado #25 2 years ago

    Christ, he'd sell his own mother if he thought it would turn a profit.

    Selling us cutscenes?

    Next thing you know we'll have to pay to launch the game that we already purchased.

  • Cronan #26 2 years ago

    Step number one, put down the crack-pipe.

  • Snixtor #27 2 years ago

    "for whom we have their credit card information" sounds like a threat.

  • jidnffc #28 2 years ago

    Given that I don't watch the laughably low quality free live action game films that get paraded around as release material this couldn't interest me less.

  • Pinky_Floyd #29 2 years ago

    Anyone want to buy the skin off a day old turd?

    Email me - kotik@icansellsnowtoeskimos.com

  • rivuzu #30 2 years ago

    Biggest opening weekend ever? Well yes, because you're charging $30 each.
    Emptiest opening weekend might be more realistic though.

  • SilverInfinity #31 2 years ago

    "Then they can charge £20 per level, £5 per weapon unlock, & £10 per character unlock."

    Don't forget the £3 for every achievement / trophy

  • jimmyhill11 #32 2 years ago

    will you still be able to press start/select to skip?

  • MiniAmin #33 2 years ago

    Or... just play MGS4

  • coolbritannia #34 2 years ago

    This news item is a bit open to interpretation. Other sites are saying this was part of a bigger debate revolving around cutscenes, and Kotick said it would be possible to render entire movies from game engines (I guess with CGI to clean it up?).

    He isn't charging you for cutscenes in games, it was about providing fans with a downloadable movie rendered from a game engine. Much less tabloidy now.

  • Zomoniac #35 2 years ago

    Been done.

    Don't think it was very successful though.

    /owns three copies, is ashamed

    There were Halo and Halo 2 cutscene films bundled with Halo 3 LE as well.
    Edited by Zomoniac at 16/09/10 @ 10:13

  • kangarootoo #36 2 years ago

    "and say we have this great hour and a half of linear video that we'd like to make available to you at a $30 or $20 price point, you'd have the biggest opening weekend of any film ever"

    Is he insane? The fundamental idea of extracting big cutscenes and selling them is one thing (not without its flaws I might add). But to suggest you could charge $20-30 dollars for it AND then declare that loads of people would buy into that on some epic scale?!?

    I am frankly baffled. There must have surely been a fair few people in that room thinking "$20-30! Has he gone f*cking mental!"


    The only thing I can think of is that because he is talking to a room of investors, he has to use big numbers. The investors don't really care what the idea is, they just care about the returns. BK is bigging up the returns beyond all sense of reason, just to increase interest among investors in giving Acti their money. Can they really be fooled on those numbers though?

  • kangarootoo #37 2 years ago

    @coolbritannia

    I understand the concept, and I agree its not that extraordinary.

    I just think the $20 or $30 bit is batshit mental. Its out by a factor of ten.

  • knightmt #38 2 years ago

    I think what he meant to say was if films cost as much as games no one would go and see them, not for the first year anyway.

  • MikkyX #39 2 years ago

    This idiot is fast becoming the Michael O'Leary of the games industry. In fact, with this, I think he might've made the role his own.

  • Lusterpurge #40 2 years ago

    I am glad about this. I won't have to worry about cutscenes taking up my time or my hard drive space.

  • geeza2020 #41 2 years ago

    angry knee-jerk reaction to Koticks comments

  • dacicus #42 2 years ago

    So, no more Activision games for me. It's that simple. They can go frag themselves. The russian devs are able to deliver tremendous games, or unbelievable flops, but they still don't charge me for cutscenes. So goes with the germans devs. And there are still quite a few indie devs that they won't hurt my wallet and they will offer me good stuff.

  • iamtheoneneo #43 2 years ago

    haha this is epic.

  • Mr_Bogus #44 2 years ago

    Erm....Metroid Other M already did it.

    Without charging an extra $20.

  • 00.00.01 #45 2 years ago

    Huh WTF!! Just read three topics with comments from Bobby K., checked my RBS-online account and Acti charged me £ 25 for that!

  • dingo75 #46 2 years ago

    You better put LOADS of tits into those movies.
    Remember: Sex sells!

  • kadooosh #47 2 years ago

    Let's hope he does this, it fails dramatically and he gets fired.

    Do it!!!!!!!

  • ruined #48 2 years ago

    Save your game - $5
    Skip end credits - $5
    Customise controls £5

    lol

  • Dizzy #49 2 years ago

    Lol

  • nickthegun #50 2 years ago

    The thing is, he is right. Hes not forcing you to buy the cut scenes but enough people will do it voluntarily.

    Everything he does that gamers find annoying is because enough people dont give a shit about how much money they are bummed out of.

    You dont get to be the evil head of an evil multinational by randomly pulling ideas out of your arse.

  • Dashnak #51 2 years ago

    I don't think I trust Activision with my credit card info anymore...

  • itsfuzzy #52 2 years ago

    They did this years ago with Final Fantasy, you are not original you big fucking muppet.

  • darth_paul #53 2 years ago

    ahem... what was shown in Starcraft 2 is a "nice" cut scene, but take it away from the game, and its a crap movie... come on bobby. Now programers and crappy screenwriters (show me a good screenwriter writing for games...) are going to replace film directors, is that it? someone give him his medicine

  • Caimbeul #54 2 years ago

    Faaaaak offfff mate

  • Skith666 #55 2 years ago

    From the title of the report, I thought they were going to start charging for some kind of "directors cut" of the cutscenes in games, I am not only relieved that this is not the case but completely and utterly baffled as to why a video game company would actually consider doing this whilst Youtube still exsists, I mean, I understand if they made an actual Starcraft 2 CGI movie then sold to exclusivily to their core fan base, but actually sticking together the cutscenes just seems a bit off the wall, even for Activision...

    *Inks up his big red 'FAIL' stamp*

  • Darren #56 2 years ago

    What a ridiculous idea.

    The only people who'd even be interested in watching those cutscenes would be people who've played the games and they'd probably already own the games or have seen them. Many of these cutscenes are impressive but more because because they're part of an overall package. As standalone releases I would imagine they'd be far less interesting because the majority of them aren't intended as watch-only movies but links between the gameplay to drive the story on. It'd be like watching a blockbuster movie with all the action and interesting bits cut out IMO!

  • hollowroom #57 2 years ago

    This is comedy gold. The only thing that would be better is if Mr Kotick popped into this thread to defend his "idea"

  • BoffBoff #58 2 years ago

    What a twat!

  • chrisola #59 2 years ago

    Gaming in Kotick world:

    1. Buy game from shop and take it home.
    2. Turn on console and boot up game to start screen
    3. Game asks you to 'Press Start'
    4. Message comes up: if you wish to enable your start button, please deposit £1. Otherwise, please deposit £2 to end game now.
    5. You pay the £1
    6. First level loads, message comes up - 'if you wish to view the intro, please deposit £1. Otherwise press A to skip'
    7. You try and press A
    8. Message comes up: 'in order to activate your A button, please deposit £2'
    9. You pay the £1 to watch the intro which runs for 30 seconds then...
    10. Message comes up: Do you wish to watch the extended version? If so please deposit £10. To go straight to the game, please press Start
    11. Realising your Start button has been paid for you press Start....
    12. Now connecting to UbiKotickSoft DRM servers to verify game authentication...
    13. 2%
    14. 3%
    15. 4%
    16. DRM Server Error -- please deposit £20 to obtain number for our DRM Helpline, or £20 to try again
    Edited by chrisola at 16/09/10 @ 12:32

  • SAMagic #60 2 years ago

    Woaaaah, hold your horses, everyone. I'm no fan of Kotick, but we need to know the context of what he's saying here.

    What cutscenes is he talking about? The in-game ones? Brand new, superior ones? A StarCraft 2 style movie? By "take it out of the game" does he mean remove it for regular players or simply line up new ones for other players to view?

    On the face of it, yes it's more proof of the absolutely disgusting milk-em-dry attitude of the man, but there has to be more to this.

  • GaryStew1980 #61 2 years ago

    considering i have never once put the "Bonus DVD" from any game into my Xbox, PS3, Bluray or DVD player I cant see myself paying £20-30 to see bad videos. The other day I got 2 blurays for €30 fairly recent releases too, dont get me wrong, it is a sweet deal Activision but no thanks.

  • Lunatic4ever #62 2 years ago

    Seriously Activision...hope you go BUST!

    Assholes

  • TrevSkyline #63 2 years ago

    The bloke is clearly ill.

  • Daeltaja #64 2 years ago

    I'm hyperventilating. This must be a joke.. this must be a joke..

    Next they'll be breaking their games up into smaller chunks; €20 for voice overs! €20 for music! €20 for tesselation!
    Edited by Daeltaja at 16/09/10 @ 12:58

  • Entity #65 2 years ago

    Ninja Gaiden gave cutscenes all wrapped up in the price of a normal game. I loved rewatching those scenes, but pay THAT much extra? No sir, I don't like it!

  • GamesConnoisseur #66 2 years ago

    Acti are THE EA of old, and they deserves all the flaks and more!

    Problem solved by youtube, don't pay extra just watch extended cut elsewhere for free!

  • jrb #67 2 years ago

    "and we were to go to our audiences - for whom we have their credit card information and a direct relationship"

    is that like the direct relationship you had with Infinity Ward, or indeed all of the disgruntled fans of the CoD franchise? Good luck if it is, people are wise to this tards get rich quick schemes. it wont wash wish blizzard, and lets be fair, who gives a fuck about pre-rendered content from any other Craptivision title, let lone paying for it, let alone paying 3-4 times more than proper movie in a three storey high screen.

    this guy needs to removed from activision before he destroys everything

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #68 2 years ago

    I'd happy pay for a SCII 'movie' IF it was done EA style and BE a movie, Deadspace:Downfall and Dante's Inferno were great additions to the games, they actally were meaningful to own and not just a cheap 'addon'

    Thats Kotick's problem he's too obbessed with making money by giving nothing and for little work, IF he actally pulled his finger out and offered a desent product from these 'addons'/DLC then far more then the 'oooh shiny' crowd would be wiling to buy them

  • kestral #69 2 years ago

    Maybe rent them via pay per minute as well while you're at it with adbreaks every 10 mins.

  • Optyk #70 2 years ago

    Bobby Kotick, you son of a bitch.

  • Redeye #71 2 years ago

    You've got to be fucking shitting me. O_o

    I really, really wish I had the opportunity to talk to Kotick for just five minutes, just so I could finally discover whether he really is this mental...before repeatedly smashing him in the face with one of Activision's own accounting ledgers.

    (Okay, so I'd need to develop arms like tree-trunks before I could pick the bastard thing up, but you get my drift.)

  • Kami #72 2 years ago

    I really can't help but laugh... Kotick may be a good businessman but really... I can't help but smirk at this idea. It has FAIL written all over it.

    Okay if it's a proper movie MAYBE, but then, Resident Evil: Degeneration on DVD didn't cost £20...

  • 32768Colours #73 2 years ago

    Massive publishers looking for new ways to exploit the delivery of content; without doubt the most irritating and ugly aspect of gaming in the past decade. From game elements blatantly held back as dlc, to MS points, Project $10 and draconian DRM, gaming has become littered with greedy, convoluted or just simply disgraceful schemes to rake in profit.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it's all bad, because some dlc is better value than buying a new game (Shivering Isles for example) and online channels like Steam and XBL have helped smaller developers such as RedLynx reach a mass market. But whilst I understand the need to turn a profit, this insatiable desire to create new "revenue streams" and "business models" has gotten seriously out of hand.

    EDIT: Typo
    Edited by 32768Colours at 16/09/10 @ 14:00

  • Notallowedhere #74 2 years ago

    I'm not sure if it's because he has history but i didn't think it was such an outlandish or 'evil' statement.

    What i took from the comments is that there is a massive untapped potential for creating game themed movies in house using all the same tech that they use to create a game, and selling and distributing them to a fanbase directly. Providing this is extra content ontop of the game that people have the choice to buy, if they want, i really don't see the problem.

    Resident Evil and Final Fantasy CG films did decent/Ok business, and might have made more money for Capcom and Square if they were created in house and distributed through a modern medium rather than the traditional theatre and home releases (that wasn't available at the time).

  • Emmit_Assassin #75 2 years ago

    I'd like to pay for in-game cutscenes. Honestly I would. I'd also like to buy a game, be told I have to pay extra to play it online, then be told I have to pay extra for the cutscenes.
    The man is a f***in joker.

  • minimong #76 2 years ago

    Love the credit card comment.Can just see the boardroom discussion.

    lacky
    "But sir, I don't think our customers will go for that"

    Booby Kotick
    "Fuck em, we have their credit card details.What more do we need."

  • Kaminari #77 2 years ago

    "Loading cutscene...

    Please insert credit card to continue."

  • chrisola #78 2 years ago

    In all seriousness he is talking (as some have said) about using game tech (or editing existing cinematics) to make proper films which can be sold, separately to any person (and not just viewed the game purchaser while playing the game) NOT about charging for longer cutscenes -- the article is just written like that to generate some hits and hate.


    Edited by chrisola at 16/09/10 @ 22:04

  • Mar27w #79 2 years ago

    what a pillock

  • craziii #80 2 years ago

    has he been to the movies lately? he really really makes me think how the hell he became the ceo of activision.

  • dutzan #81 2 years ago

    I usually don't let whoever is in charge of a game producing company affect whether or not I buy whatever game they're pushing. But seeing this particular guy talk how he's got credit card info and direct relationship... I'll start making exceptions.

  • Sevens #82 2 years ago

    Digital distribution: It Only Does [Have] Advantages.

  • Rajin #83 2 years ago

    If people can spare 15 euro's for a flying mount in wow i wouldn't be surprised if this would actually work(cheap game-engine based movies)

  • Headless_Monkey_Boy #84 2 years ago

    Which ever way you read this it look like he wants to hold content up for ransom. Only workable solutions i can think of is as follows....

    or maybe it'll be a high class Mechanica, not sure i'd be willing to pay for that.

    Worst case, a cut film of the cutscenes with game play footage to make it make sense. I mean i love Mass effect but i couldn't just sit down and watch it played for me.

    most likley...

    okay so you buy a game with some limited cut scenes, the game just about makes sense and the scenes are okay not particualy emotive but get the Job done. Optionaly you can pay an extra £20 to have the scenes that fills out back story, get to grips with the characters and completes the game experience you bloody paid for in the first place. Being the elitist retarded Gimp i am i might do that.

    And how long would it be before they get reallly greedy and provide a game nearly unplayable without the extra content and not worth th original price when you do? Not long methinks.

  • eisenhorn666 #85 2 years ago

    Just seen an advert, it appears Bobby Kotick is going to be on Dave's stand up comedy show..... I also understand its a cover-up as after the show he will be lead off stage and shot in the head. There are still tickets to go and pummel his still warm corpse afterwards....