Call of Duty Elite, Leader board Tracking
Activision today announced a subscription based service which will compliment the Call of Duty series called Call of Duty Elite. No price has been confirmed but Activision are saying it will be similar to video streaming services like Netfix in the US which costs $7.99 (about €5.50) a month. For your money you get all the DLC as it’s released as well as access to a huge stat tracking system which goes into the tiniest of details with stat infused maps and iPhone and iPad compatibility.
There seems to be a genel uproar on the internet today but here’s my thoughts on it. I don’t like it.
Charging a subscription fee for what they’re giving in return sticks of Activision’s cash grabs. Worst of all, they’re charging for something that should be in the game in the first place. My biggest problem with the COD series has always been the lack of any significant upgrades to the multiplayer from game to game. This interface could and should be a significant upgrade but no, not only do we have to pay €60.00 a year for a new CoD game but we now have to pay €5.50 a month to access it’s improvements. Team Fortress 2, for example, has stat tracking through Steam for free. Steam and Xbox Live already have built in community features for free. If this were actually a new feature of Modern Warfare 3, it might actually make me think they’re trying to spice thing up a bit at last. Also, doesn’t this means the standard CoD multiplayer interface has to be kept how it is in order to justify charging for this service?
Getting all the DLC on the other hand could make this worthwhile, especially if I can buy it for just a month but I’m guessing most CoD players are in things for the long haul. In this case it saves money to begin with but gradually players will have spent more than it ever would have cost to just buy the DLC. In the end I’m being asked to pay for a feature that should be in the game in the first place. Maybe if this subscription was an alternative to paying €60.00 up front it would interest me. Activision could even charge more than €5.50 and it would still interest me but right now I’ve only been given more reason to be terrified of Modern Warfare 3. Something which I definitely don’t need more of.
