Activision is removing the cost of its Call of Duty Elite service, the company announced today. Introduced last year, Modern Warfare 3 fans had the option to pay $50 to upgrade the otherwise free service, providing a year's worth of downloadable content, additional multiplayer support, and tons of other bonus features like exclusive shows.
This year, with Treyarch already confirming Black Ops 2's support of Call of Duty Elite, Activision has decided to not only improve upon the service's features, but make it completely free! When Black Ops 2 launches, both new and veteran Call of Duty Elite members will be able to enjoy the full range of service and features.
"We've learned a lot in our first year of Call of Duty Elite, and we're very proud that we over delivered on our commitment of playable content to our premium members," said Activision Publishing CEO, Eric Hirshberg. "What we have realized is that several of the Call of Duty Elite services which are currently only available to our premium members for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 are things that would further unite, engage and delight our player community. So we are going to make them free for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2."
Free doesn't necessarily mean less, however. Activision has confirmed a whole slew of new features including the all-new "Pick 10 Create-a-Class" system, added emphasis on eSports, and more support for Zombies mode. For the first time ever, the millions of Zombies fans can now track their Zombies personal stats and compare it with others. The Pick 10 system lets you copy the load out of another player and push it directly into your system so that the next time you play, you have that load out. Other features include Clan HQ social sharing and notifications, and Call of Duty Elite TV which will deliver a "renewed community focus featuring developer tips and strategy programming, custom class overviews and more."
Activision plans to support the free Call of Duty Elite service by offering four new downloadable content map packs through a Call of Duy: Black Ops 2 Season Pass. The map packs include a variety of new multiplayer and Zombies playable content and are expected to release in 2013.
"For Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, DLC Map Packs will be a separate offering from Call of Duty Elite," Hirshberg explained. "The Season Pass will be a great way to acquire all four Map Packs at a discount, but if our fans would rather take it one Map Pack at a time, then we'll offer each pack a la carte for anyone who wants it. What we aren't doing is requiring a paid membership to access the great player services for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and we're thrilled to offer all of Elite's Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 features to players for free."
The Season Pass will be available at the discounted suggested retail price of 4000 Microsoft Points, or $49.99. You will have the option to purchase the DLC a la carte although you will actually be spending more that way since each pack will sell for $15 each.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is set to launch worldwide on November 13, 2012 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. It is also expected to be released in North America on November 18, 2012, for the new Nintendo Wii U game system.
