Activision Makes Call of Duty Elite Free for Black Ops II

The subscription-based Call of Duty Elite service will be free in the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Elite provides premium services such as lifetime stats across multiple games, monthly content updates and more. The company also announced that four map packs will be released for $15 each or $50 for a “Season Pass,” which is a $10 savings.

“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 our premium members,” said 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 II.”

Call of Duty: Black Ops II will launch worldwide on November 13, 2012 for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The title is also expected to be released at the launch of Wii U in North America on November 18, 2012. A regular version will be released for $60 and the “Hardened Edition” will retail for $80, which comes with a limited edition two-sided steelbook, collectible coins, Black Ops II’s official soundtrack, Nuketown Zombies and the Nuketown 2025 Bonus Multiplayer Map.