Activision is planning Call Of Duty Elite, a subscription-based service for console gamers to launch alongside
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 this November, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
The
WSJ report notes that Activision "plans to charge a monthly subscription fee for the service, which will provide extra content that isn't offered on game discs sold in stores, including downloadable map packs that give players new
Call of Duty levels to play."
According to the available information, the monthly cost will be less than other online subscription services such as Netflix, which charges $7.99, and "portions of the service will be free".
The service will be billed separately to existing hardware company-charged subscriptions such as the multiplayer enabling Xbox Live Gold, or the more content-specific PlayStation Plus service.
The article also cites Jamie Berger, Activision's vice president of digital for
Call of Duty, as saying the company has "seven million daily players of the game who spend, on average, about seven full days a year playing the game against others online."
Gamasutra was also briefed on Activision's plans for Call Of Duty Elite. A larger article on the service, which is announced just ahead of next week's key E3 trade show in Los Angeles, is
now available.
[
UPDATE: Ahead of full stories that will debut at 6am PT on Tuesday, Activision community manager Robert Bowling
noted on Twitter that aspects of Call Of Duty Elite are "free, for all players, some paid aspects TBD. Absolutely NO fee to play #MW3 multiplayer."]
