Call of Duty Elite Racks Up 2 Million Paying Subs

72
Lee Bradley

So, erm, Call of Duty Elite is quite popular. According to the latest stats, the service now boasts 10 million users, 2 million of whom are premium members. 

Released as part of Activision’s quarterly financial report, the stats offer up a few more enormo-numbers worth noting. Apparently, as of 31st March the CoD franchise had amassed 40m monthly active users, with Modern Warfare 3 players alone racking up 1.6 billion hours of online gameplay.

Despite the insanity of those numbers, however, it still wasn’t enough to save Activision from a year-on-year drop in revenue. The publisher may have added a $1.17 billion diamond encrusted Killer Whale to its money swimming pool in the last three months, but that figure is down from last year’s $1.45 billion. The poor things.

Putting a brave face on the fact that he may have to cut down on the gold-plated Ferrero Rochers, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick stressed that the company’s performance was "better than expected" and that it has strong prospects going forward.

"On May 15 Blizzard Entertainment will release the highly anticipated Diablo 3 and we are proud to report that pre-orders for the game worldwide have set a new record for Blizzard," he said.

"For the remainder of 2012 and beyond, our product pipeline includes some of the most innovative games we have ever developed for our established franchises, including Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm and all new MMORPG game, as well as Activision Publishing's Skylander's Giants, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and a new universe from Bungie.”

He said some other stuff too, but it was really fucking boring.

Comments
72
  • I won't be fooled by elite again.
  • Diablo III is finally coming out. Hell has frozen over.
  • Why? Why are some many people thick. Every online game is going to cash in on this now
  • Were, you used a swear! Cover ur eyes kids!
  • *errr (fucking predictive text!!!)
  • 40 million active users a month (I'm guessing they are counting unique players), but only 2 million premium members... Activision, you can surely do the maths here. The ratio of players to premium members is pathetic, and you were so sure that you would get a really high attach rate. You should perhaps rethink this idea if you think losing 250 million dollars against last year is "better than expected" performance.
  • Strangely enough I'm now vaguely interested in what was said that was "so fucking boring"
  • Im proud im not one of those foolish 2 million people
  • Best article iv read. I get the impression you arnt to impressed Lee? I don't blame you , the spice girls sold 75 million albums, look at them now.
  • @7 Just for you, dude. "Our high-quality brands, industry leading operational capabilities and solid balance sheet should enable us to continue to take full advantage of the opportunities afforded by the expanding interactive entertainment market and deliver continued superior returns to our shareholders." Don't say I didn't warn you.
  • I played MW3 for about 6 days and that was all I could handle, got way too boring after that.. I honestly can't wait for the day that websites stop posting news in regards to Call of Duty. Seriously, it's getting tiring seeing CoD everywhere.. the game isn't even very good and it's getting so old with Activision/etc being such an attention whore. I wish all these websites would focus on all these other games that devs have put real work and heart into, and not just this copy and paste crap Call of Duty does. lol. (End rant)
  • @10 Well, you were definitely right
  • Now go ask all 2 million if they feel it was a good purchase. Maybe some people here could answer that ?
  • @10 Boring indeed. It feels like they think accountants are reading these things.
  • Willy-waving stats HAHAHA that made me smile. I got Elite with my hardened edition of MW3 and I kinda regret it, you basically get it for the new cotent (which ive barely played) and some clan stuff and competitions. I wont be renewing my sub for it
  • Mark me down as a reason for a decline in sales,no more same old shit cod for me, not by any means having a dig at those that like it, just over it
  • 2 million kids who had access to their parents' credit card
  • Just goes to show. Does matter how much money you bring into the company. If you haven't made a profit something is wrong. Lets hope mib3 can give them a great start to this finacial year. I wonder how prototype2 did. Activision don't give their smaller products much hype.
  • This elite bullshit better not be part of black ops 2. Zombies is my Main and possibly only reason ill pick up the game and the dlc day 1 but not if i have to buy elite for a year.
  • I hope I never get fooled by scum-bag publishers/devs, I'm thankful I didn't get MW3 and the elite, but I really, really hate myself for buying BF3 instead of GoW3.
  • 2 million retards.
  • This has got to be one of the funnier news bits I've read recently. Thanks Bradley :D
  • Elite is free this year lololol, not that i use it much. @21 Go fuck yourself
  • 2 million people helping to send gaming into the abyss :(
  • Jinkies! that's alot more than I would of expected
  • Just going to get worse with Blops 2...... and people complian they have no money. HA ! I say.
  • I bought the Elite Premium,it worked out cheaper than buying 3 map packs(which on average i would usually get),i can't really say if its been worth it,while the amount of content is good(this month we are getting a new game mode with 4 new maps for that mode,a new MP map and 2 new Spec Ops missions just this month)... ..its the fact that i have grown so bored of MW3 so quickly,that i hardly play it anymore,and therfor the content is wasted on me,so i don't think i will be renewing the subscription if it was on a game that would keep my interest up all year,i think it may of been a good thing..imagine Star Wars Battlefront game doing this,getting new maps etc,and it would be sweeeeeeet(i can dream can't i?)...but yeah MW3 at least has been quite disappointing,for me anyway
  • It was a very easy decision for me not to subscribe to Elite. I'd had enough CoD so I didn't even buy the game.
  • everyone keeps bashing EA for ruining the games industry but I can think of 2 million people that are currently ruining it! This crap will be the new standard on all AAA games. So to all subscribers who have more money that sense, THANKS!
  • @29 past COD games have brought out 3 map packs for 1200 each(12 maps),some have had zombie maps for another 1200 points(so 3600 points,4800 with the extra Zombie packs) ELITE is 3200 points,and there will be 12 new MP maps(by September),new game modes new maps for those game modes new Spec Ops missions the program is spot on its cheaper for players,its just the game that program is for which is the weak spot
  • I got elite free, it was aparently a thanx from activision for being part of the beta! So they didnt get my money :D
  • 2 Million Users huh? 2 Million Suckers more like!
  • Ha! 2 million sheep.
  • @14 they are, along with every person interested in buying stock in them, he says the wrong thing there stock value plummets wonder when were actually going to here news on bungies new universe
  • Best game ever created+ best deal for its DLC= awesomeness
  • @29 Because EA are ruining the industry.
  • Remember folks, piracy is killing the gaming industry.
  • I cry for the video game industry today. How is it that CoD gets more paid subscribers than a lot of better games get total sales???
  • What a fucking joke. This is percisely why this garbage catch's on by other game company's because they see that children such as these 2 million FREAK out until they have they're parents buy it for them. And for what? just so you can get horrble supposively "Free DLC" even though its not free cause your paying monthly for something that is worth $0.00 anyone who has purchased that shit your future is probably going to be what your life is now. absolutely nothing. if your that concerned about "video games"
  • @39 obviously your not a hardcore gamer if you hate on mw3. Go play with you wii
  • @39 You sum up your own post quite well with your first line. and let me rewrite your last sentence for you, Anyone who has the time to come on message boards to post pointless drivel,your future is probably going to be what your life is now.Absolutley nothing,if your that concerned about what everyone else is spending their money on.
  • It's worth getting, because it gives you all the dlc for free, which would have cost more than the money from dlc... but I do agree that elite is nothing special... I probably would not have gotten it, if I had not bought the hardened.
  • Give me achievements for Black Ops 2 this November. That's all I care about. :):) Halo 4, Far Cry 3 and others is 100% better FPS games come out this year. Why better? because those franchises not release every years!!! COD is only FPS release same over and over in every years. :):) COD series had show good game like graphics (but with graphics look so same every years), gameplay and coop but problems is MP is breakdown too much since it's cheaters and campers way much in it and single-player campaign is too similar each years. I am bit slight happy that Black Ops 2 is biggest different for campaign because of future set so I like it. But still "COD" that release every years. COD franchise alway "REPEATABILITY" that how Activision earn this "PERK" lmfao!! hehehehehe At least to look forward future set for singleplayer and achievements as well zombie mode for play with friends that is for Black Ops 2 for me.
  • The "kids having access to their parents credit card" or "They're just happy that Mommy and Daddy are buying the game for them" comments that always seem to find their way onto the CoD articles are really annoying. Find some new material and stop getting so butt-hurt over something that you supposedly don't care about. Some people like CoD. If you don't like it, don't play it, and don't read every article that is released about it. There are PLENTY of other games that you can turn your attention to, so that we don't have to put up with your whiny bullshit.
  • All I saw was Bungie. *internal screams of joy*
  • Hilarious write up. Nice one.
  • I got elite for achievements mainly but i do play it every now and then when i'm bored and its nice to play on different maps every so often
  • Idiots. 2million idiots.
  • 2 Million generic gamers with no taste
  • So glad I didn't sign up for this Elite BS. MW3 sucked anyway, I won't be signing up for Elite on any COD game even if the game is actually good.
  • @43 I'd take you more seriously if you had the ability to form cogent sentences. I still don't get why people bitch and complain about this service, you either use it for free or pay for it. From Activision's point of view, they've just raised over $100 million with their 2 million plus premium members. The other 40 million use it for free. Start bitching when other developers start doing this and make it mandatory to pay or don't use it at all. Fuck you people are pissy little whiners.
  • @48 AND 49 yeah 2 million fools ,thats almost as much as the amount of self important anti cod cock jockeys who feel the need to comment on something they hate but just cant help clicking on .
  • Surely they won't persist with the 'subscription' concept for future titles. I mean, 2 million subscribers out of 10 million users is a pretty poor turnaround!!
  • I'm an Elite Premium member and I enjoy the series. Thought I'd be one of the only people to say that I like playing these games. And by the way I just bought Minecraft and am looking forward to Max Payne 3 next week. People must not understand the concept of playing tons of different games and including Call of Duty on that list.
  • this is worth it for people who play cod the whole year though if they plan on buying the maps...but the elite premium membership is horrible..it's nothing beyond $50 for maps instead of $60 it's a terrible deal all those other features they touted are irrelevant lol
  • @40 I am a hardcore gamer, which means I play hardcore games. COD USED TO BE a hardcore game, but everything halfway believable just went out the door starting with MW2 and it just turned into cheap, fake, ripped, recycled Hollywood crap. I don't hate COD as a whole, I just wish they would come back to reality a LITTLE bit and stop ripping everyone else's games/movies. So yes, I do hate the last 3 games.
  • I'm an Elite Premium member and also some of my friends. I see no problems with it. Especially when one of my friends won 1600 points during a clan contest. I admit that I like Black Ops better than MW3, but as long as I'm playing online with people I know, I'm still having fun. I first sign up for Elite for free, then when I found out it was more than just getting map packs if I upgraded, I went out and got the harden edition and upgraded. So I don't understand why I have to be called a sheep or a sucker or an idiot for living my life and enjoying a certain game. I play other games besides Call Of Duty all the time, but since I play that one certain game, I'm not a true gamer? It's not the gaming industry that's ruining gaming, it's these new breed of gamers.
  • That's a lot of money taken from foolish people. I refuse to pay for services that were originally in Black Ops for free.
  • There is a special place in the fiery depths of hell reserved for the likes of activision, EA and all the cretins who lap up their recycled, generic BS whilst dragging the games industry into a stagnation of uncreativity. Next all games with MP will have a version of 'elite', then they will make it so the MP on the disk is like a free to play version with like 1 map and a few weapons.
  • Hopefully BLOPS II has a better solution to their DLC than MW3!
  • So, 2 million people were disappointed? I'm glad I didn't get Elite. MW3 was garbage.
  • The real question will be how many of those individual users would pay for a second year of elite service. I got mine with the hardened edition, and it is definitely something I would not have paid for by itself. The service itself is a joke; I find nothing worthwhile in it other than the dlc. Had this not been given away with the hardened edition, I think that 10 million number would be a lot lower.
  • LOL, 2 million friggin' morons. Why pay for that Elite crap? Such a waste. Congrats Activision, you truly know how to make money...not getting mine though.
  • @52 I'd rather be an anti-cod cock jockey, than just a cod cock jockey.
  • Why buy COD when Darksiders is almost out! :)
  • @58 I don't remember getting my DLC for Blackops at a discounted rate, but whatever. The whole problem with Elite was how they marketed it. There are way to many morons who still can't figure out you are basically buying a seasons pass. Just like LA Noire, or Gears did. I got elite with my hardened edition. I didn't buy it for the stats, I bought it for the seasons worth on content. I'll probably buy it again for black ops 2, since I'll want the Zombie maps, and will probably only buy Treyarc's releases since I didn't enjoy MW3 very much.
  • I like looks of CoD Elita, but don't play CoD enought to pay for premium service. I hear good thigns about it though, so not surprises there. Diablo 3 on the other hand, I. MUST. GET.=P
  • I just don't understand the 2 million premium subscribers. What did you pay £35 for? If you wanted stat tracking all you had to do was go buy Mw, Mw2, W@W and black ops. I'm fairly sure pre owned you could of gotten all of those for less than £35 and all those games have the stats built into the menus.
  • What's he talking talking about we develop, this guy doesnt develop anything. He sits at his desk all day and collects a huge paycheck. Why don't you go out to the real world and see what work really is bobby. Don't break a sweat fixing your tie.
  • lol @ paying to play vs the most rampant modding/cheating/glitching community on xbl every single person in the xbox.com "why was i banned" forum has COD games as their last 5 recent games...EVERY, SINGLE, PERSON
  • Elite is a rip-off. I bought the hardened edition of MW3 for the sole purpose of 1) Saving ten dollars throughout the year and 2) For the chance to finally putting together a clan on a console (Why has Microsoft not implemented the Clan feature that was in Halo 2?), without having the smarts and the time using the various clan internet sites. 1) New maps suck. Way to much going on in the screen with barely a choke point to be seen and only really a campers playground. 2) COD Elite is basically the same crap I could check out between multi-player matches on COD: BO for free, but with competitions that are filled with cheaters and/or services that are constantly broken. It's been six months since its release and Clan Operations in Elite are still broken. Beachhead is shit. I will probably buy the next COD, even though this one pisses me off, just because I like playing games. But there is no way I will ever pay for a service like this from any developer again. Activision and EA are setting shitty new standards for the gaming industry, but no matter how many people bitch/complain about the COD series and swear to never buy COD again; they will never amount to enough to hurt Activision or EA financially.
  • if elite premium was without the DLC's it would cost $5 but yeah rip off since you pay $50 for and the DLC's are only worth $45
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