Just when PC gamers thought that they had reclaimed the Call of Duty series, they learned on Friday that they had been let down once again. As reported by IGN, Activision and Treyarch announced an exclusive deal making GameServers.com the only dedicated server provider for Call of Duty: Black Ops when the game launches in November.
According to the GameServers pre-order page, players wishing to purchase a dedicated server will be required to shell out $14.95 a month for an 18 maximum player limit on ranked servers. Unranked servers will cost $0.99 a month per player up to maximum of 24, with Teamspeak support costing an additional fee. Discounts will be offered for a 3, 6, and 12 month prepay.
"We are extremely excited about this unprecedented relationship with Activision to offer dedicated servers exclusively for Black Ops", said GameServers CEO David Aninowsky. "We are placing a great amount of pressure on ourselves to ensure that we exceed any and all expectations."
Commenting on the announcement, Treyarch Community Manager Josh Olin said that the partnership allows for high-quality private servers, adding in that Treyarch-hosted dedicated will stay free. The statement reiterates a recent comment by Treyarch Studio Head Mark Lamia that the online component of the game will always be free.
"If players want to run a dedicated Ranked or Unranked server on the PC, they will have to rent one through GameServers," said Olin.
"Treyarch will be providing a fleet of "Day-1 Servers" (through GameServers) which will be up and operational on November 9th. Nobody will have to rent a dedicated server through GameServers in order to play the game, but for anybody who wants to run their own server, it will be run from GameServers.com."
Call of Duty: Black Ops is set to hit store shelves on November 9 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and PC.