If you want to blame someone for the massive monetization of Call of Duty, it turns out that Jeffrey Epstein, of all people, had a hand in founding it.
Newly revealed correspondence between Epstein, futurist Pablos Holman and former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, taken from more than three million Epstein files released Friday, talks about “inspiring kids into the economy” through in-game cosmetics.
“The X prize is a nice idea but the key is a real world prize,” Kotick told Epstein in an email. “Learn to read: [earn] Cell phone minutes, iPhone credits, virtual items in games.
I'm all for teaching kids about economics. How you should love him [example] 'Virtual objects in games' for 'real world events' – Pablos.
Interestingly, these emails were sent on May 3, 2013, a few months after the launch of Black Ops 2 — the first game in the series to feature microtransactions. Activision tested the waters with personalization packs, additional slot packs, and paid calling cards, the first of which was released on April 12, 2013.
Call of Duty: Ghosts, which launched later that year, went on to include paid “special characters”, voice over packs, skins, camos, and even weapons; It's not hard to draw a line between these conversations with Epstein and Kotick and the sudden boom in microtransactions, but what's depressing is the motive behind them to prey on children.
Kotick appears over 300 times in the Epstein files
This is not Kotik's only presence in the files. If you search for his surname on the DOJ website, there are over 300 results, and he seemed close enough to Epstein that he was even invited to his island in 2012.
“Your offer is very good,” replied Kotick. “I don't think it's going to work according to schedule. It's been fun being with you and your team of experts.”
However, when Epstein mentioned in a 2013 email that she and “the girls” were going to see Elon Musk at SpaceX, and that he was “taking [the] After the girls in Bel Air”, Kotick replied, “let me know what time.”
- issued
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November 13, 2012
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and gore, intense violence, strong language, suggestive themes, drug use
- Engine
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iw
- Multiplayer
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Online multiplayer, local multiplayer, local co-op
