COD Elite-issued MW3 maps locked to one XBL Gamertag

By Robert Purchese Published 26 January, 2012

Appears to contradict terms of usage.

The new Modern Warfare 3 maps Shoot Me and Shoot Me a Bit Harder are only accessible by the Xbox 360 Gamertag that subscribes to Call of Duty: Elite.

The problem being, this appears to contradict the stated terms of download.

Those terms state that, "The item you are trying to download is subject to usage restrictions. You can use this item on the first Xbox 360 console you downloaded it to. Access to this item will also be granted to all users on this first console."

1

Artist's impression of boy trying to use dad's Elite maps.

Members of the Modern Warfare 3 forum exposed the issue, which Joystiq later picked up on.

This issue, however, may never be rectified.

One MW3 forum member claimed to have contacted Activision. Said person was told that the premium Elite maps - Liberation and Piazza - were, yes, locked to one Xbox Live Gamertag. And Activision apparently didn't know if this restriction would be lifted when the maps are released to all in March.

Also, as members of the MW3 forum pointed out: the maps can be played in split-screen, providing the Elite-subscribed XBL account leads the playlist. Perhaps that's what the usage terms meant.

An annual Call of Duty: Elite membership costs £34.99.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 4 months ago

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

  • Lexx87 #1 4 months ago

    Love the Home Alone pic :D

  • eviroboy #2 4 months ago

    Makes sense. It's a paid for subscription, separate from XBL is it not? I assume it's just the same generic message you get when you download anything, so in that sense it's an oversight by MS.

    Who actually pays attention to terms and conditions anyway...wasn't there something about Gamestation adding a take the piss term that they own your soul or something? LOL.
    Edited by eviroboy at 26/01/12 @ 09:30

  • Sodding_Gamer #3 4 months ago

    No way is Elite that much! Jesus christ the same price if not more than I pay for my yearly sub for xbox live. What a rip. Sorry if I sound a bit stingy but come on?! I hope this doesn't catch on with other games

  • UnblestCarpet #4 4 months ago

    Those douche bags!

  • Yuroko #5 4 months ago

    @Sodding_Gamer Plus the £45 for the game every year, so £80 a year for the hard core CoD players. Must make up the money for all the people leaving WoW.

    I wonder how many people actually subscribe to the Elite thing.

  • Spong #6 4 months ago

    Kudos for the Macaulay Culkin pic, almost as funny as the actual article.

  • midnight_walker #7 4 months ago

    Wouldn't now be an ideal time for all those people who paid for an Elite sub to be able to claw their money back due to Acti breaching the terms of service?

  • iamtheoneneo #8 4 months ago

    Why is this news?
    Its a NON issue!!

  • Sodding_Gamer #9 4 months ago

    @Yuroko

    I would like to know the numbers too to be honest. Personally I think you have to be borderline retarded to think it'a a good idea. From what I've seen it's basically the same as BF3's battlelog with the exception of those map diagrams showing you where you died most etc.

  • super_monty #10 4 months ago

    Bend over and put the KY-jelly on for Activision.

  • arcam #11 4 months ago

    @Sodding_Gamer @Yuroko

    Gamestop alone sold 600,000 elite subscriptions - and that's just one retailer, in one country, in the first week alone.

    I think it's fair to say it has been a big success.

  • Viz1 #12 4 months ago

    Can't get battle log to work ( doesn't recognise username ) and won't be buying elite.... Unless I fancy maps and that works out cheaper....
    But saying that I never really play it because it's crap, it's to closed in...
    Bring out blops 2

  • SonOfGoku #13 4 months ago

    When I tried out the new maps this evening (currently running australia time) there were only 2000 people in elite map TDM playlist which has faaaar more...2000 on the most popular playlist on new "sought after" maps is pretty terrible, its probably just the people that got elite for free with the hardened edition (like me)

  • Cjail #14 4 months ago

    I wonder what stopped Activision to make Elite a retailer release with a DVD/Blu-Ray instead than a code, considering that nowadays with £5 more you can buy an brand new game at day one.

  • DwarfyP #15 4 months ago

    Thats OK, I only have one Xbox Live account.

  • Laythe_AD #16 4 months ago

    I still boggle at people who pay a yearly subscription for basicly what Halo and Battlefield offer for free. Each to their own of course.

  • Cjail #17 4 months ago

    Xbox players, still uncertain to buy COD Elite or not, I invite you to join the dark side and pass to PS3: no need to pay a double fee here.
    Also I assure you that our internet service is not as bad as they say, not at all.
    Edited by Cjail at 26/01/12 @ 10:45

  • Brev2034 #18 4 months ago

    @Viz1 but blops was the 2nd worst cod after waw

  • penhalion #19 4 months ago

    Shhhhh don't scare off the Elites. I was kind of hoping that it would become a meeting ground for those hardcore COD players and the rest of us could finally play some friendly and fun matches without all the "Echo two form on me!" nonsense

  • Rrralphster #20 4 months ago

    COD has been going downhill since COD2.
    "We will listen to the community" "We will listen to the community" "We will listen to the community"

    All they heard were the stockholders...

  • Bilstar #21 4 months ago

    You see, this is the risk of paying for stuff before you know what youre buying. It just encourages the vendor to take liberties.

  • asphaltcowboy #22 4 months ago

    @Laythe_AD Are you completely ignoring the fact that you get ALL the released DLC over the entire year? Along with the stats, did you get all the Halo map packs for free?

  • varkdm #23 4 months ago

    @asphaltcowboy I think you did when you bought Halo Reach didnt you? Cant remember, never played much halo online anyway :)

  • Physically_Insane #24 4 months ago

    @varkdm no you didn't

  • artibeus #25 4 months ago

    @Sodding_Gamer Worth it, however, if it is your intention to buy all map packs, as it will work out cheaper.

  • Shikasama #26 4 months ago

    It's so cool to hate something you know nothing about. So cool.

  • Sockatume #27 4 months ago

    That text about usage restrictions sounds a lot like the standard Xbox Marketplace boilerplate, which states that the game will be linked to the first console it's downloaded to, and to the Xbox Live account of the downloader. If either of those conditions is met, the content is available.

  • duckmouth #28 4 months ago

    Inch by inch, we are slowly being fucked in the ass. It'll be an all-out reaming come the next gen. This saddens me.

  • Feanor #29 4 months ago

    Nasty imagery there.

  • kosigan #30 4 months ago

    If the product is not as described, then the customer can demand a refund from the seller - basic consumer rights.

  • shikz #31 4 months ago

    so if we get rid of elite from our tags we can still use map packs on other tags right ???

  • Kew1Melon #32 4 months ago

    Lets keep the cash flow going eh Acti? "/

  • Jamiesan #33 4 months ago

    This is because elite subbers are getting early access to the maps, it seems like MW3's software is doing this, not Microsoft's. Once the early access period ends, it'll most likely revert to the default usage restrictions.

    Personally, I didn't bother with Blops, so treated myself to a (heavily discounted) MW3 hardened edition. I'll probably give Blops 2 a miss, so 2+ years of shooting people, and all the maps thrown in for under £60.

    The thing that bothers me, is that they've commited to an ambitious timeline with the DLC, I reckon we'll get lots of 2x map packs instead of 3x, which will further fragment the playlists

  • mukki #34 4 months ago

    This was to be expected...

    Hoping this won't be the case with ps3... But it probably will be.

    Can map packs also be downloaded via the pan store?

    But wait what do I care since I am playing bf3 most of the time

  • Collymilad #35 4 months ago

    @Cjail

    I think if we're going to pinpoint one sub as the true problem for gamers here (now and in the future) it's the CoD Elite one, for ONE game. Not the sub that covers everything and gets you smooth and easy to use service.