For a while now, it's often been rumoured that Activision have been looking into charging a subscription fee in order to access certain parts of its phenomenal shooter franchise, Modern Warfare. With the announcement today of "Elite", a new, online service that works alongside Modern Warfare 3, it seems Activision are setting those wheels in motion.
At the moment, Activision have been quite cagey about many of Elite's specific features - a lot of them are tied into Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer mode, which won't be getting a full reveal until next week, when the world's largest gaming showcase, E3 kicks off. What they have been keen to stress is that everything people have come to expect from Modern Warfare 3 will still be free - online play is still free, the single player's still free, while the map packs will still cost you, presumably the same as they always have. In fact, apparently, Elite itself is mostly a free service, with a subscription option, designed to appeal to the most hardcore of players - although exactly what those features are has yet to be revealed.
Tracking stats online.
At its core, Elite is an online service designed to keep people interested in Modern Warfare 3. Accessed through a web browser, or a free iOS/Android application, the site connects to Modern Warfare 3's online system, and basically serves as a community hub. Split into four sections - Career, Connect, Compete and Improve, Elite will offer insight into your multiplayer performance on the game. Under Career, you'll be able to track your stats - view your kill to death ratio, compare yourself to your friends, and that sort of stuff. Under Connect, you'll be able to form "clans" and teams with your friends, helping you arrange games, while this section will also offer a Theatre, showing off the best clips people have taken during games - whether they be funny, or just impressive.
Under Compete, you'll find link to numerous competitions Activision have arranged through Call of Duty - whether it's a screenshot competition, or a structured tournament for teams, and there'll be real prizes on offer. In the mean time, the last category, Improve, blinds you with information about each of the game's maps, letting you research spawn points, and presumably weapon locations, along with offering video guides for every weapon.
According to Activision, the core parts of the service - or everything we've detailed above - will be free. Which is good, seeing as nothing above sounds all that earth shattering - stat tracking isn't exactly a groundbreaking thing. In a few days' time, Activision plan to unveil the subscription side of the service, telling you what you'll get, when you'll get it, and most importantly, how much it'll cost. The company have been quoted as saying that Elite's subscription will cost you less than any comparable entertainment subscription service - although that's about as clear as dishwater. One thing we do know is that subscribing will let you download each of the map packs released (Activision have a tendency to release two or three during the life cycle of each Call of Duty game) free of charge, and you'll also get access to an exclusive web series - although details are pretty sparse on the ground.
In a few days time, we expect to have all the details, but we remain unconvinced as to how popular this is going to be. People already spend a lot of money on Call of Duty, but playing online is free - and still will be free - so long as you have a Gold subscription on the Xbox 360. It's hard to see what exactly Activision are going to offer to entice people into taking out a subscription. Either way, we should know for sure in a few days, when E3 finally gets going.
