Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was released on November 8th at midnight. Along with it. the new subscription-based Elite service debuted. It seems that Call of Duty: Elite didn't handle the stress of "hundreds of thousands" of players logging on particularly well, giving players errors when they tried to register for the service or use any of its features.
Call of Duty: Elite is a subscription-based service being offered up for $49.99 a year. The membership to Elite includes access to downloadable content, extensive multiplayer statistics, the ability to setup clans, recording and sharing HD video and a slew of other nice bonuses. The service is currently only being offered on Xbox 360 and PS3. although a PC version is in the works and should be launched soon. The package is pretty compelling for that extra $49.99 a year, if it worked properly from the get go.
Elite crumpled under the pressure of so many players trying to register for the service at once. The result was that many users simply couldn't access Elite or any of its features, instead getting error pages. Reddit member "ButterflySammy" left a comment about the state of Elite saying, "You just can't set up any clans or use any of the other elite features on any platform." Not a fantastic start for a new, premium service.
Activision has responded to the problems via Chacko Sonny, head of subsidiary Beachhead Studio, releasing a statement that says:
"We are working around the clock to increase our capacity as quickly as possible...Registration requests for our new live service Call of Duty Elite are exceeding even our most optimistic expectations."
That statement did not appease users and they vented their frustrations on the Facebook fan page for Call of Duty:Elite. There are a slew of really choice words on that fan page regarding the state of the service. One user wrote, "Yea maybe if you're gonna release this, MAKE SURE IT WORKS!" Another user said, "Fail. Big time fail. You don't beta test this for capacity? Not good."
Yet another frustrated user summed up the frustrations of many by writing,
Considering the popularity of the Call of Duty franchise it is surprising to see these kids having issues with the Elite service right out of the gate. I would have expected Activision to be very sure that their servers could handle the load, especially with how aggressively the game and the service have been marketed leading up to the release. Hopefully next time they'll do some proper load testing before releasing a brand new platform to the masses.
Did you pick up Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3? Did you decide to go with the paid Elite subscription? Let us know your experience.
