Activision's new Elite subscription service for Call of Duty will be available for $49.99 a year, or about $4.15 a month, when it launches alongside the highly-anticipated Modern Warfare 3.
Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg made the announcement at a Gamasutra attended press-only preview for Activision's Call Of Duty XP fan event, going on in LA this weekend. The company has gone to some effort for the festivities, creating an enormous compound that recreates Modern Warfare 2's The Pit and Scrapyard maps for real paintball tournaments.
The event also serves as the stage for Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer unveiling, for a tournament offering a $1 million prize, and for fans' first hands-on opportunity with the Elite service. The company has taken care to unveil that service gradually, aware that any miscommunication regarding the premium content offering could provoke some of the series' core fans.
In addition to a wide range of social features, skill tracking and clan management, Elite will also feature close Facebook integration, so players can assemble multiplayer matches with people on their friends list. It promises to sync with an associated mobile app "right out of the box," says Hirshberg.
Subscribers will receive new downloadable content on a monthly basis, while non-subscribers still have access to a number of the new social features, and can still buy DLC bundles a la carte when they're released on a schedule similar to the one players have come to expect for previous Call of Duty games. Premium members are also eligible to participate in competitions with real-world and in-game prizes.
"Just buying the DLC alone would cost you $60 a year," Hirshberg said, adding that millions of fans who purchased all of Black Ops' map packs spent that amount, helping the DLC achieve sales topping 18 million.
Those who purchase the Hardened edition of Modern Warfare 3 will also get a year's free subscription to Elite, Hirshberg added.
The company's also developing episodic TV programming for Elite; in a program called "N00bTube," Will Arnett and Jason Bateman will provide funny commentary at the expense of player-created MW3 video. In addition, Ridley and Tony Scott will produce "Friday Night Fights," which pits interesting teams against one another in competitive play.
My initial thoughts on this were critical of Activision for exploiting their customers, but the reality of it is that they release exceptional DLC packs for their COD series and this seems like an economically viable choice for many of their players.
Your employer does marketing for CoD. That's perfectly fine, but you're at an obvious conflict of interest here. It's not like I don't believe you, personally, but you must understand there are plenty of angry young men on the Internet who can do a basic Google search, and will shoot first and ask questions later.
Because that is Activisions PR Team LOL. No way in hell would any person with a brain would buy this. You already pay 50 for xbox live atleast I know I do and you gonna pay another subscription? BATTLEFIELD 3 BABY HERE I COME!!!
Ok, wait a sec... I'm spending $50 on PSN Plus and another $50 on XBL Gold, and now you want me to pay $50 more on some DLC with Facebook features? Sorry, but if it were around, let's say $15 then I would get it :/
Though I really like the series, it's just not worth it pulling out extra money in this kind of economy. Way to go on the hindsight, Activision.
First was COD Elite then came EA Season ticket and now gears 3 gets a season pass where for $30 you get the first 4 dlc map packs which doesn't sound so bad but forget Elite and season ticket as the last thing i want is every big game thinking they can become a mini WOW which in turn would DECREASE the money available to buy other new games=everyone looses-not just gamers but developers and publishers and retail as well.
Even if Elite and season ticket had retail cards like xbl and psn it's still siphoning funds that should be spent on the next big game...or system for that matter. If someone only had a 360 but wanted a ps3 oh too bad elite and season ticket set you back and perhaps they'll decide they really didn't need it after all and then you've lost a double dipper who would have rushed out and grabbed resistance,killzone,lbp and god of war to start.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jsterns
http://adage.com/article/news/activision-asks-tbwa-biggest-entertainm ent-launch/
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Your employer does marketing for CoD. That's perfectly fine, but you're at an obvious conflict of interest here. It's not like I don't believe you, personally, but you must understand there are plenty of angry young men on the Internet who can do a basic Google search, and will shoot first and ask questions later.
I have BF3 pre-ordered.
Though I really like the series, it's just not worth it pulling out extra money in this kind of economy. Way to go on the hindsight, Activision.
Even if Elite and season ticket had retail cards like xbl and psn it's still siphoning funds that should be spent on the next big game...or system for that matter. If someone only had a 360 but wanted a ps3 oh too bad elite and season ticket set you back and perhaps they'll decide they really didn't need it after all and then you've lost a double dipper who would have rushed out and grabbed resistance,killzone,lbp and god of war to start.