Call of Duty Elite Free for Black Ops; DLC Will Cost Extra

October 15, 2012

Activision is ensuring that the premium Call of Duty Elite service will be packed with players next month by making it entirely free with the purchase of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 beginning on November 13.

This means that anyone who purchases Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii U or the PC will gain immediate access to all features in Call of Duty Elite. This includes clan support, one of the most active areas in Call of Duty Elite that currently only premium subscribers have access to, as well as all new features coming down the pipe.

The idea behind his change is to unify Call of Duty players and avoid exclusion. Think of it in terms of Xbox Live Silver (Free) and Gold. If a multiplayer game requires a Gold membership to use all the multiplayer features and one friend is on the Silver plan and the other the Gold, they will not be able to enjoy the game together. The same is currently happening on Call of Duty Elite. If one friend is on the premium service and the other on the free service, they will not be able to join the same Elite clan.

Current Call of Duty Elite premium subscribers will remain subscribed until their subscription period runs out. At that time, they will need to purchase Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 to continue with the full Call of Duty Elite service, or continue on with the free partial service.

Some new features are coming to Call of Duty Elite alongside the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. They include:

Player HQ - Track Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 performance with rich game statistics, including enhanced match information such as heat maps and recent match data; track challenges and extensively modify your classes like never before using Treyarch's new Pick 10 Create-a-Class system.
Clan HQ - Join an existing clan or start your own, invite friends and then take part in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 clan competitions with cool digital prizing.
Zombies Support - For the millions of Zombies fans out there, now you can track your Zombies personal statistics and compare it to other players' around the world.
Call of Duty Elite TV - Launching with tablet support with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, the new Call of Duty Elite TV will deliver a renewed community focus featuring developer tips and strategy programming, custom class overviews and more.
Social Sharing and Notifications - With Call of Duty Elite's new notification system, you can stay updated with what is going on in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, as well as communicate directly with your clan.

It still costs money to improve and maintain Call of Duty Elite so Activision is diverting those costs to DLC. Confirmed in today's announcement are four upcoming DLC Map Packs for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 that will be released in 2013. Each pack will be made available first exclusively on Xbox Live before eventually being available to Playstation Network members.

You will be able to purchase the Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 in one of two ways. You can purchase a Season Pass that will grant you access to all four at a discounted price ($49.99). Or, each Map Pack can be purchased a la carte ($15 each) as they become available. Specifics on each Map Pack will be made available at a later date. Rest assured that zombies will figure into at least one of them. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. It's a free option, though frankly I can't see why you wouldn't want to sign up given the breadth of statistical information and features it offers.

Click here to pre-order Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii U or the PC at Amazon.com.