No competitive advantage with COD: Elite

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 31 May, 2011

"You can't buy your way into Prestige."

Those who subscribe to multiplayer service Call of Duty: Elite will battle on a level playing field against those who don't, developer Beachhead has insisted.

"If you are worried about someone buying their way into Prestige or Activision selling people special weapons that they wouldn't normally be able to earn through gameplay, don't be - that's not what Elite is about," Activision's Dan Amrich said.

"We're not doing anything like that," Beachhead boss Chacko Sonny added.

"It's not part of the plan."

Elite expands the multiplayer Call of Duty experience with free and premium features – although Activision is yet to reveal exactly what the premium subscription will provide.

"Additional offerings above and beyond the core stuff will come with a fee," Amrich explained. "The simplest and best analogy I can think of is television. You can watch NBC, CBS, and ABC all you want, just for the price of buying a TV. However, if you want more - Comedy Central or HBO or NBA League Pass - then you subscribe to a cable or satellite service to get those extra programs.

"You don't have to; it's a question of whether or not you want to see those other shows. If you're happy with your usual high-quality network television, keep on enjoying it. If you want more content from your TV, you can choose to subscribe to more. Does that make it seem less terrifying?"

Elite launches alongside Modern Warfare 3 this November for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A public beta is planned for the summer.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (22) Latest comment 12 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Optyk #1 12 months ago

    Well, not at first anyway.

  • darkmorgado #2 12 months ago

    So now that's 7 articles about COD on the front page...

  • Vice.Destroyer #3 12 months ago

    You can't buy your way into Prestige says the man from Activision.
    Wrong, says a random XBL gamer, who sent me a message that for 1200MP, he will get me p

  • Vice.Destroyer #4 12 months ago

    You can't buy your way into Prestige says the man from Activision.
    Wrong, says a random XBL gamer, who sent me a message that for 1200MP, he will get me prestiged,

  • jonharrispro #5 12 months ago

    TOO MANY ARTICLES ABOUT COD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Olemak #6 12 months ago

    Eurogamer, you are seriously over-reporting something very few people are interested in. You don't HAVE to print every press release Activision sends your way.


    ...Do you?

  • nuanimal #7 12 months ago

    That was a shit anology.

    "If you play CoD and you want Services/Products from group 1, then they're free. If you want Services/Products from group 2 you have to pay. We're not going to tell you what they are but we can confirm you won't be seeing Charlie Sheen"

  • captain_Carl #8 12 months ago

    How much are they paying you for all these articles.

    Also, FUCK THAT DIRT 3 ADVERT

  • kinky_mong #9 12 months ago

    How about you just compile all this info into one article rather than clogging the whole front page?

  • Cronan #10 12 months ago

    "We're not doing anything like that," Beachhead boss Chacko Sonny added.
    "It's not part of the plan."

    Yet.

    Also, how is this different to Bungie.net, which has been free for years?
    Edited by Cronan at 31/05/11 @ 15:06

  • monkeywithnoeyes #11 12 months ago

    the tv analogy kind of falls apart though when you have to consider it would be like buying a new "tv" every year just to watch those "free" channels.

    And i already pay a xbox live sub to get those "free channels".. whats that? like a tv licence?...whats my broadband bill? sucker tax?

  • dingo75 #12 12 months ago

    Eurogamer, you are seriously over-reporting something very few people are interested in. You don't HAVE to print every press release Activision sends your way.

    I'm interested in it although I'm not the classical CoD player.
    Fact is that Activision is the 1.000 pound gorilla in the market and others will follow where they lead or at least monitor their actions pretty closely.

    If this thing is a success this might affect most of the vdeogame players in one way or another which is pretty frightening if you ask me.

  • geeza2020 #13 12 months ago

    Isnt it a bit early to start bombarding us with this crap EG? At least hold off until September...

  • HL706 #14 12 months ago

    @dingo75

    If this thing is a success then we're going to see the same issues in console gaming as we see in MMO's. People will have 1, possibly 2, subscriptions for their favoured games and won't be prepared to invest in anything else. This will only serve to dilute quality, innovation and diversity even further imo.

  • Bravestinsane #15 12 months ago

    "The simplest and best analogy I can think of is television. You can watch NBC, CBS, and ABC all you want, just for the price of buying a TV. However, if you want more - Comedy Central or HBO or NBA League Pass"

    ..... FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL

    This guy is a fucking moron, everyone knows Comedy Central and HBO are the best fucking channels, anyone been watching Game of Thrones? best thing on TV atm imo

    So basically hes just told us we get the standard shit no one wants with the disk, and if we want the good stuff we need to pay monthly, what a piss poor analogy
    Edited by Bravestinsane at 31/05/11 @ 16:47

  • Mister-Wario #16 12 months ago

    Salesmen talk is still salesmen talk.

  • Peter_LIAR_Molyneux #17 12 months ago

    "If you are worried about someone buying their way into Prestige or Activision selling people special weapons that they wouldn't normally be able to earn through gameplay, don't be - that's not what Elite is about," Activision's Dan Amrich said.

    That quote is worded very carefully. It could be taken to mean that yes Activision Blizzard will charge for special weapons access. Special weapons that you can eventually get access to by playing but if you just pony up 800 MP or so then you can get that asskicking automatic sniper rifle right now. Kind of how EA are always offering cheats and ramped up character progression in their sports titles as day one DLC.

    "Speaking with the Journal, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said the service is intended to supplement the Call of Duty experience, and emphasized that the multiplayer aspect of Modern Warfare 3 will remain free. He also said that customer service for Elite is so extensive, that the service couldn't be supported for free. " (From a Gamespot article)

    Expect to see Modern Warfare 3 to be the last Call of Duty game to have free multiplayer out of the box because Activision doesn't consider customer service to be covered by the cost of the game when you buy it.

    "He (Bobby Kotick) also said that customer service for Elite is so extensive, that the service couldn't be supported for free."

    How can customer service for a service that is not yet available be so expensive? I swear, Activision PR stooges are so full of bullshit that they might actually start believing it.
    Edited by Peter_LIAR_Molyneux at 31/05/11 @ 19:05

  • dfooster #18 12 months ago

    People who buy anything cod related have been getting ripped off for years. They take customer loyalty as a way to screw more money out of these people, I use there over inflated RRP as a prime example, and this is why I never buy their games.

    I hope battlefield 3 is a huge success and nobody gives a toss about cod anymore, because this is exactly what activision deserves. A few years in the wilderness may make them thankful for the fanbase they had and in the future will learn from this.

    There's a recession on people want affordable entertainment, stop screwing every possible penny out of people who you know are hooked on cod. It's preying on the weak, and it's extortion.

    Best thing is if everyone refuses to buy this premium pack but somehow I cant see that happening.

  • drxym #19 12 months ago

    I expect it will work the same way as free to play MMOs. You play for "free" but there will come a point where you will be compelled to pay or suffer an inferior service. It's not hard to see the way it might happen - diminishing high level servers requiring frequent waits, map packs only available to customers, "booster" kits which accelerate advancement, roles & other perks which are locked and only available to subscribers. Maybe you can't "cheat" by paying but it doesn't mean you won't be disadvantaged on purpose if you don't pay.

    I honestly don't know why people stick with COD. The drip drip effect and the nickel and diming should be convincing people to take their hit somewhere else. It's not like there is any shortage of FPS games anyway.

  • BritishBlue1 #20 12 months ago

    If Elite doesn't give you any sort of advantage then what's the frickin point in paying for it...?

  • Ashcroft #21 12 months ago

    I'm just going to play something else.

  • CaptainKid #22 12 months ago

    Never change a winning team.
    COD is on top (sales wise, god knows why) why milk it even further and risk losing your fan base.

    I know, its because of shareholders off course who only go for short term profit.