Less than 40 days away from the highly anticipated release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Activision has announced that all Call of Duty Elite services will be free of charge. By the time November 13th rolls around, veteran and new Elite members will be able to enjoy everything that is anticipated to be released over the entire year of 2013 by award-winning developer Treyarch Studios.
“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 out premium members,” says 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.”
But hold back all those excited cheers, the perks just keep on coming. Along with the release of the big blockbuster, Activision will be selling four all new DLC Map Packs both before and at the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Season Pass. Available for Xbox Live players first, the four map packs will bring a variety of brand new multiplayer and zombies content which are expected to be available in 2013. With the Season Pass, all four map packs will be offered at a discounted suggested price of 4,000 Microsoft Points in the Xbox Live Marketplace. As usual pricing and release dates are subject to vary by platform. More information will be available at a later date regarding the 2013 Black Ops 2 calendar.
Hirshberg continued, “For Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, DLC Map Packs will be separate offering from Call of Duty Elite. 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 á 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 news that Call of Duty Elite’s free integration with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 follows up on the latest reveal from Treyarch including several brand new exciting multiplayer features such as the all-new ‘Pick Ten Create-a-Class’ system, an added emphasis on eSports featuring CODcasting, and an all-new Score Streaks system. President of Gamestop Tony Bartel says, “Consumer anticipation for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is tremendous. We are seeing the highest pre-orders in history. With its current pace, this Call of Duty is on track to break records and is likely to be our biggest game launch of all time.”
And just when you thought this game could not get any cooler when it comes to bonuses, those crazy guys up at Treyarch Studios have even more to offer with the free services of Call of Duty Elite. The perks will include all new enhanced features such as:
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 the new Pick 10 Create-a-Class system.
Clan HQ – Join an existing clan or start you own, invite friends and then take part in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 clan competitions with sweet digital prices.
Zombies Support – For all you Zombies fans out there you can now track your Zombie’s personal statistics and compare it to other players’ around the world.
Call of Duty Elite TV – Launch with tablet support along with the game, the all 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 the community as well as be in direct contact with your own clan.
The worldwide launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is on November 13, 2012 on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Windows PC. It is also expected to be released in North America on November 18, 2012 for the new W2 U gaming system from Nintendo. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is rated M for mature (Blood and Gore, Intense violence, strong language, suggestive themes, use of drugs. Content is suitable for people 18 or older) by the ESRB. For more information on Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 please visit http://www.callofduty.com/blackops2 or on www.facebook.com/codblackops. Fans can also follow @Treyarch on Twitter.
Those who are existing Call of Duty Elite premium members should expect to continue enjoying the Call of Duty Elite Premium membership features for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 through to the end of their current subscription period. For more information on Call of Duty Elite please visit http://www.callofduty.com/elite or follow @Callofduty on Twitter. Call of Duty Elite is developed by Beachhead Studio.
