Activision's new Call of Duty Elite service has triggered a wide spectrum of reactions from gamers.
Image courtesy Activision

News of a premium service for Call of Duty has caused some fans of the game to fly into a rage, claiming gamemaker Activision should not charge monthly fees for online content.

Call of Duty Elite, which publisher Activision announced Tuesday, is a hybrid stat-tracker–social network for the online-shooter series that will become available this summer. The basic service will be free, but some features will require a premium subscription.

While Activision has not laid out exactly what extras will come with a fee attached, some Call of Duty players have taken to the web to protest what they see as a cash grab by the makers of the best-selling videogame in the United States.

“Call of Duty Elite represents the next big step in finding a way to gouge more money out of gamers’ wallets,” Philip Hansen, who runs gaming website Evil Avatar, said in an e-mail to Wired.com.

While massively multiplayer online games such as World of Warcraft often carry monthly fees, Elite is the first optional premium service for a standard retail game, and an innovative new attempt to milk more money out of the Call of Duty cash cow.

Some gamers see it as an attempt to charge an additional fee for features that are often available in online multiplayer games for free, such as social networking groups and detailed tracking of in-game statistics.

“Instead of respecting their customers and rewarding loyal players, Activision has decided to walk a path toward microtransactions and premium multiplayer content,” Hansen said.

In a video launching a Call of Duty Elite protest, The Gunn Shop called the premium service a “douche move” on Activision’s part (video above).

“It is out of pure greed and lack of respect for their community that Activision has decided to charge a subscription fee for the content to be provided under Call of Duty Elite,” The Gunn Shop wrote on its YouTube page. “Services that other developers offer for free. Make it free, or GTFO!”

Jesse VanLuven, a 36-year-old gamer, called the upcoming service “insulting.”

“We put up with raised game prices, pay subscription fees on Xbox Live and have to pay more than we should for [downloadable content],” VanLuven said by e-mail. “And yet here is Activision adding a new fee, just because they think they can get more money out of gamers, not to bring something new to us.”

Other gamers aren’t as concerned. Some have praised Activision for creating an optional feature rather than charging a fee for standard online play.

“I think the Elite program is fine,” gamer and freelance writer Hollander Cooper said in an e-mail. He compares the service to Sony’s PlayStation Network, which offers a free basic package as well as the premium PlayStation Plus package, which adds features for a monthly fee.

Gamer Mike Pergola told Wired.com he doesn’t intend to use Elite, but he thinks it’s a good way to keep gamers hooked on the game’s competitive elements.

‘I think it’s a rather brilliant move on Activision’s part.’

“I think it’s a rather brilliant move on Activision’s part, as it will add new life to the online experience, particularly for ‘hard-core’ players,” Pergola said. “With such a saturated e-market these days, the obvious strategy is to keep people online more, and this is a good way to do it.”

Other Call of Duty players pointed out Elite’s similarities to Bungie’s free service for Halo games.

Call of Duty Elite’s “weapon-use charts and even the fonts seem ripped directly from Bungie’s site,” said game-design student Tyler van Vierssen in an e-mail. “It’s as if they took the limited ‘Pro’ features that were used by Bungie for video management, and extended it to their entire website.”

Activision’s social media rep, Dan Amrich, posted a short FAQ about the upcoming Elite service. Then he spent the day on Twitter parrying gamers’ gripes about the announcement.

“You may not see the value until you get to try it yourself, but that’s where this summer’s beta comes in handy,” he tweeted. When Wired.com asked for comment on the backlash, Activision did not respond by press time.

Elite’s social networking features will allow gamers to create and join clans based on personal interests and affiliations. GayGamer writer Scott Nichols said he hopes Elite will allow lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Call of Duty players to avoid the bigotry and hateful language he says they usually experience in other online games.

“Online shooters are known for their flagrant hate speech, and groups could offer ways of [meeting] like-minded individuals much easier,” Nichols said in an e-mail. Nichols said he hopes Activision will create ways for groups to moderate themselves. so “haters and bigots” cannot harass them.

Though publicly available groups will be free on Elite, private clans will require premium membership to join.

“This is a huge opportunity for Activision to pull the Call of Duty community out of the current Wild West it inhabits,” Nichols said.