Call of Duty Elite Completely Free with Black Ops II, Four Map Packs Coming Next Year

Having launched last year alongside Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Activision’s subscription-based service Call of Duty: Elite is no longer subscription based. With the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops II this November, the service and all of its features will no longer be divided between paying and non-paying members, instead opting to allow all Black Ops II owners to enjoy all premium features.

If your recall the system that was set in place for Modern Warfare 3 last year, all DLC was offered for free to any and all who paid the subscription fee for Call of Duty: Elite. The catch was, all of the DLC purchased individually summed up to the same price of Elite – so players who paid for Elite received all of the DLC packs and a slew of features like stat tracking, clan support, video playback rendering and so forth.

That has changed for Black Ops II. The four announced new map packs will be sold individually post-launch as well as part of a discounted $50 Season Pass. Each pack will individually cost $15 (as is tradition) if you feel like cherry picking your favorites. DLC will deliver “a variety of new Multiplayer and Zombies playable content” and is slated for launch next year.

Here are some of the features mentioned for inclusion in Call of Duty: Elite:

• Player HQ – Track Call of Duty: Black Ops II 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 II 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 II, 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 II, as well as communicate directly with your clan.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II will be available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on November 13 and November 18 on the Nintendo Wii U. Elite will launch with each platform’s respective game launch.