Activision: Setting Call of Duty Elite free is "best for our business"

Eric Hirshberg explains decision to drop fee from shooter subscription service, why Wii U players could go without

[-MD-]

After all the idiots already paid for it, I love it. Keep falling for those Activision scams, folks.

[nrvalleytime]

Scams? Not really - a change prompted by recognizing market variability and needs isn't so much a scam as a company admitting and changing its business for the biggest profit. They're out for money, and making this free makes more people buy the game (outweighing those who might pay for a basic service that other games include at purchase).

I feel bad for the Elite members who have bought it for earlier games, but - to be fair - they did enjoy it for some time before this announcement.

Needless to say - this is how the game should have always been offered, but better late than never.

[jetlian]

it doesnt effect them.they still get the maps. I think the real reason they changed it is maps sales were down.

say 360 elite got maps in jan then ps3 elite and regular 360 in feb. PS3 regular users didnt get maps till march which was 2 months behind.

By then regular ps3 users went 5 months without new maps which is way to long for fps.So sale were down on that end

So now they just making it a season pass hoping to make more upfront and overall. And by overall I dont know about anyone else but I have a tendency to only get 2 of the 4 map packs.

the season pass makes it hard to buy 2 for 30 when 20 bucks more gets me 2 more map packs

[irepbtown]

The only COD i bought maps for was COD4. MW2 I borrowed my friends account downloaded it from him. Black ops, sold in a week. MW3, only borrowed from cousin.

I will get Black ops 2, however I doubt I'll get DLC (unless the DLC is worth it). COD4 was/is just too good, until they release something of that class I dont think I'll spend anything extra. I know Activision have got it in them to release a game as good as COD4.

Question is, will it be this Gen or the next...

[Rebo00]

Let's hope you don't say you play on Xbox Live :-)

[GraveLord]

Idiots? If you were planning on buying all MW3 DLC, getting the Elite premium was the smartest thing you could have done. You save yourself $20 on DLC.

Anyway, I have an idea of why the "Elite Drops" and going away.....with MW3 I noticed a much smaller presence on Playstation Network for the DLC.(since most people got their DLC from COD elite monthly drops.) I assume it was the same for Xbox Live.

[Army_of_Darkness]

It could be because Not much people subscribed to it and was just a waste of space.

[stage88]

Absolutely this. MW3 was garbage and when people realised that they didn't drop money for the DLC. I do feel sorry for all those that were suckered into elite though but now you know not to fall for cheap tricks again.

On another note, I'm actually looking forward to BO2.

[Psycho_Mantis]

Im sure Bobby Kotock at Act. HQ is laughing himself to death on a stack of gamers monies right about now.

[DeadlyFire]

Why buy map packs at $15 bucks a piece. My wallet waits for $5 bucks a piece.

I see no reason to pay $120 bucks for a game + DLC.

[Kohven]

Agreed. They should've taken notes from Battlefield 3...just sayin'...

[Cajun Chicken]

Hmm, Elite community features free but DLC not included? Interesting trade off.

[The Meerkat]

Halo has done this for years, maybe that's the reason for their change of heart.

[nrvalleytime]

Exactly. Make the community and base game excellent, and people will have an easier time supporting DLC. I never understood how Call of Duty got away with removing features other games included out of package.

[Oschino1907]

@nrvalleytime - "I never understood how Call of Duty got away with removing features other games included out of package."

Care to provide some examples of this because in most cases I notice COD offers much more then many other games upon release straight out of the box.

And while I am at it what is this supposed to even mean, "Make the community and base game excellent, and people will have an easier time supporting the DLC.".

BTW not sure if you know or not as you don't seem to provide a clear understanding in either of your posts. COD Elite was/is a FREE service that provided the same if not more then pretty much any other similar service.

Elite Premium gave you all the DLC and early, video guides to every map (including dlc) and weapon, more indepth clan features, Elite TV, chances to enter daily competitions that often featured actual prizes.

Outside of the DLC, which is what the article is stating, I don't know of many other games that offer some of those things at all let alone all of them together or as indepth for FREE.

[humbleopinion]

@Oschino1907
I think that by "other games" he simply means Halo.

[princeofthabay]

$50 for a season pass? I think I'll pass.

[miDnIghtEr20C_SfF]

Good for them not to gimp everyone and change this up. Treyarch>IW.

Can't tell you how sucky it is for people in my clan not having paid Elite, and they don't get their stats counted with ours in Clan Challenges. I will miss getting maps early, but whatever. It kinda alienated the COD base.

I applaud they Treyarch! Good job.

[cyclonus007]

This was an Activision decision. Treyarch has no final decision on this matter. If the maps were now free, that would be groundbreaking but this is just lip service.

And IW has been dead since MW2. The IW that made MW3 is a lifeless husk, a shadow if its former self.

R.I.P.

[CerebralAssassin]

And bringing up MW3 had to do with... What exactly? And if they gave out free dlc we would see 1-2 maps tops and the life of your game would be cut in half. You would trade it before the year is out. The point of DLC is to keep your game relivant and to refresh it. In order to do that you need people. In order to get people you need to pay them. Hence paid dlc.

[cyclonus007]

I brought up MW3 because Treyarch was always considered inferior to IW before MW2. Now that the IW talent is gone, everyone loves Treyarch CoDs. I don't hate Treyarch but they get too much credit for otherwise mediocre work.

And I wasn't knocking paid DLC. It's just Activision is making a big deal about Elite being free when all they did was cut out the part of Elite that people really wanted: the map packs and early access to those map packs. Activision knows they can't charge for just stat tracking. Elite would have been a dismal failure if they had tried. It would also fail as a paid service without the maps so they might as well give it away and go the Season Pass route.

[ZoyosJD]

I thought the setup was strange anyway. Clans were split just because certain members didn't pay upfront. Paying just to have your stats compiled is practically useless anyways. And timed releases just alienates part of your user base

[FarCryLover182]

I think giving away the DLC is best for their business' customers

[rpd123]

I love how everyone shits on CoD for this yet Battlefield 3's Premium gets no complaints. I think both are bad systems.

[Bladesfist]

Dice built up karma for me as they released a lot of free maps for bad company 2.

[Loki86]

I guarantee Bobby fought this every step of the way.

[bubblebeam]

Until he noticed a doughnut on the floor.

[007Bond]

They will find some way to screw us over im only in for the zombies that's whats keeping COD alive for me.

[tubers]

I'm pretty sure I'd love this.. ahh if only I had the competitive blood then I'd be all over this news :)

[IIC0mPLeXII]

The more and more I hear about this game the more and more I just want to save my money for next years big releases, rather than even purchase this game.

[jay2]

PMSL they made their money they didn't need, and kill the DLC and it's an even bigger fars!

[artdafoo]

Only people i feel sorry for are all these kids parents who have to keep buying this turd and all the extra turdings every year, lol.

[Straightupbeastly]

This is exactly what I said they should've done from the beginning, because segregating a large community, especially mostly casual, is a horrible move.

I have friends that don't pay attention to these things but play cod. Not one of them bought a map pack for mw3, but bought almost all of them in prior releases. When u make things confusing and change dates to what casuals are accustomed to, they won't go searching for it.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Eric Hirschberg should be fired be ause he was brought in right before Elite started, so u know it was his doing.

[taquito]

dlc of ANY KIND is trash and unnessasary.

make a full retail expansion with a box and a fu@%ing manual or DO NOT ask me for any money for it

a map pack, lol....GTFO with that trash, I want a map editor so the entire community can make maps together

don't try to sell me weapons that should just come in a patch

all you people who buy dlc are the problem, just don't buy it, stop buying it, STOP FU$%KING buying it!!

its garbage, its insulting, you buy a game for $60, it comes with 15 maps, a single player campaign, 100 weapons, perks unlocks, co-op, hoard mode ect...ect.... then these A$$HOLES make 4 maps and want $15 for it, think about the value, at most, AT MOST, for a 4-10 map pack a dev should ask is $5

$15, 1/4 the price of the full game for 1/50th of what the original game came with

FU@% YOU!!

[braydox21]

in Australia it costs more around $20 dollars for the black ops maps (black ops 1) as with everything else its bumped up alot higher although cheaper options are availiable (e.g. i bought skyrim for $110 dollars while my friend got it for $60 dollars, we get ripped off quite alot)

[Imalwaysright]

Bubbles to this man. I too am tired of the whole DLC scam.

[Scenarist]

"not all platforms are guaranteed to receive the maps, and pricing could vary from system to system. "

i hate this shit

[KontryBoy706]

That is SUCH a swift kick in the nuts for all you people that paid for it. OUCH!!!

[BX81]

Y?

[bubblebeam]

Hmmm, despite the kick supposedly being swift, it still hasn't reached you yet BX81. Oh no, wait there it is....doooooiiingg.

[kingmushroom]

Great news, i bought elite to play the maps before non subscribers and also to save money from regular $15 price, i have them all played them all had fun and that's that.

[Animal Mutha 76]

Let's just remember that Activision aren't doing this because they love us. They are doing this because paid Elite didn't bring in the revenue they were expecting. It's all about the money and being competiitive with other shooters. We are all just revenue streams to be exploited.

I for one am glad that the Elite paid model has failed. It annoyed the hell out of me that they took all of the stat features that were already in Black ops, ripped them out of MW3 and then put them in a separate app and then charged for a few extra features when in all reality the Elite charge was just a season pass by another name.

I bought a few of the MW3 map packs separately in a sale and got them as cheap if not more cheaper than the equivalent season pass. I wish I hadn't tbh as the maps were average at best and not in the same league of value as my BF3 AK expansion.

I'll never buy a season pass as I don't want to support this type of practice. I believe in buying things once I know their quality through review and user comments. A 20% saving is not enough over a year to make me give out money upfront for unknown quality content and trust the publisher. If I buy any map packs at 1200 msp I offset the cost by buying points cards on the cheap or using rewarded points, or at worst I wait until a sale.

Some of my fiends bought Elite and we had massive debate at the time. I stuck to my guns even though I ended up being alienated in certain games due to lack of maps. I'm glad I didn't get it. I doubt that any of them will buy the season pass for Blops 2.

[Captain Tuttle]

I just became more interested in BlOps 2

[StitchJones]

Only reason I got Elite was because it was included with the Hardened edition of the game. Otherwise I would have totally passed on it. MW3 was a let down from top to bottom. I am VERY excited for Black Ops II, and the feature going free. Based upon the past quality of Treyarch's map's I will get the pass.

[ramiuk1]

i paid £55 for the game and elite.
how is that bad??
folk saying the mugs who got elite now its free? wtf??

map packs are 1200ms points £10
elite is £35-40
i got a good bargain and paid 55 for game and elite,like all the others who got from same place.
the mugs were the people who didnt buy elite and paid 1200ms points a drop.

this season pass will be about 4000ms points(£35)
elite free.

same deal just different way of advertising it

[Saturne3]

I just might get BOpsII once i see it around 30-40€.

There´s so many great shooting games coming out like Far Cry 3.