Call of Duty Elite Goes Free

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Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
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Call of Duty Elite Goes Free


With the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, everyone will be Elite.

Call of Duty Elite debuted alongside Modern Warfare 3 as a subscription-based online service, but Activision is taking a different tack with the upcoming Black Ops 2. The publisher announced today that the Elite service will be included with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 at no extra charge.

Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said the company "learned a lot" in the year following the rollout of Call of Duty Elite, including, in a very general sense, that players enjoy things like detailed stat tracking and having virtual clan headquarters. Armed with that insight, Activision decided to fling the doors open to all, with a few minor changes.

The Player HQ, which offers "rich game statistics," enhanced match information, challenge tracking and class modification through the new "Pick 10 Create-a-Class" system, as well as Clan HQ, Zombie stat tracking, Call of Duty Elite TV and "Social Sharing and Notifications" will all be included with Black Ops 2 Elite. DLC discounts will not be part of the package, however; instead, DLC will be sold by way of four map packs which will be available a la carte and through a discounted Season Pass, which will sell for 4000 Microsoft points, or $49.99. Individual map packs will release at 1200 Microsoft points, or $14.99.

It's a bit of a shuffle-step - reduced DLC prices through a $50 "season pass" rather than an annual subscription to Elite - but the addition of new options for everyone is still a net gain for gamers. Activision added that existing Call of Duty Elite premium memberships tied into Modern Warfare 3 will continue to function as normal "through the end of their current subscription period."

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Black-Ops-Xbox-360/dp/B007XVTR3K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350318593&sr=8-1&keywords=Black+OPs+2] comes out on November 13 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, and on November 18 for the Wii U.


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Tahaneira

Social Justice Rogue
Feb 1, 2011
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I'm confused.

If it's available to everyone, doesn't that defeat the purpose of being Elite?
 

GenGenners

New member
Jul 25, 2012
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Tahaneira said:
I'm confused.

If it's available to everyone, doesn't that defeat the purpose of being Elite?
Shhh! Activision is offering free content. Take it before they change their mind!
 

GoaThief

Reinventing the Spiel
Feb 2, 2012
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COD customers pay far too much for DLC, it's sickening.

I would consider playing some titles in the series if they weren't so massively overpriced.
 

FEichinger

Senior Member
Aug 7, 2011
534
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Because a hundred bucks for the full game is reasonable. *sigh* Also: Shouldn't those services be included with the game anyway? I mean, what is there to CoD other than bragging about your glorious K/D?
 

Jhooud

Someone's Dad
Nov 29, 2011
224
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Well that's interesting. I'd thought they'd had a pretty enthusastic response to the service. Well, okay, free is good.

I do kinda miss the Doom-era of freely released map packs via community map-building tools. There was a lot of crap, but some really awesome work to be found (kinda like Little Big Planet).
 

Studsmack

New member
Sep 28, 2012
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That's generous of Activision in a way, but if you think about it too hard, you'll realize EA offers generally the same thing with Battlelog. "Shuffle step" was an apt choice of words, they're basically moving the $50 price tag for Elite to just the maps. But like the Andy said, it's a net gain for all Blops 2 players.
 

NLS

Norwegian Llama Stylist
Jan 7, 2010
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Offer something that should be free for free. Genious.
 

Frostbite3789

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Jul 12, 2010
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NLS said:
Offer something that should be free for free. Genious.
Make them pay for it for one title, then offer it free. That way it seems like you're being generous now.

It's like with gas prices. Raise raise raise raise, then lower a little bit. Now everyone is just happy for the lower price, but it's still far higher than before.
 

Dandark

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Sep 2, 2011
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I guess they did it as a PR move? At least it's free now but damn those map packs. 1200 points each? For what? 3 or 4 maps per pack?

CoD map packs are so damn overpriced that it's not even funny to joke about anymore, especially since they all sell really well...