Activision Defends Call of Duty Elite Platform

Activision is defending itself from backlash against its subscription-based Call of Duty Elite platform, promising consumers that "nothing will be taken away." In a blog post and subsequent FAQ published Friday, Activision clarified to its Call of Duty fanbase that the platform -- which will offer subscription-based perks and services starting with this year's Modern Warfare 3 -- will be an "additive experience" that will not take away from the kind of content that players can currently access. "The Call of Duty 'out of the box' experience that our players expect... remains the same as ever," the FAQ reads. "Our promise to you is this: Elite only adds to the Call of Duty experience. Nothing will be taken away from the experience you know and love." "With Call of Duty Elite, we’re adding a new choice for those who want to get even more out of the game. Even haters can play for free," it continued. The FAQ goes on to outline features that Elite will provide for free, including custom iOS and Android applications, custom leaderboards, detailed performance tracking, video uploads, and Facebook integration. The company again stressed that it was unable to detail most of the paid features of Elite, as the premium-tier service "was designed to be deeply integrated with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and will not be demonstrable until we are closer to the launch of the game." "We know seeing is believing, and over the next few months we will be revealing and demonstrating more of the premium features and by the end of the summer, we will reveal the entire service in full." The full FAQ released Friday is available here [pdf link]. More details on the service are available in our original report, and Gamasutra's Chris Morris wrote a detailed editorial piece on Elite's potential impact here.