Call of Duty: Elite shutting down Friday

Call of Duty: Elite, Activision’s online service for Call of Duty that premiered for Modern Warfare 3, will be officially shut down on February 28, 2014 at around 10 A.M. PST.

Heralded by Activision as their way of extending the lifespan of Call of Duty, promoting tournaments and clans, and monetizing the game even further, Call of Duty: Elite had a rough start. Servers weren’t working at launch, many features were shut down, etc. And the response towards Call of Duty: Elite was tepid at best. Many gamers felt that Call of Duty: Elite, while functionally similar to Bungie.net, Halo Waypoint or Battlelog, was not worth the $49.99 pricetag even in regards to its dual function as a season pass. Not only that, but users (such as Chris Smoove) were heavily critical of Call of Duty: Elite, and how it gave out maps on a monthly basis rather than all at once. As such, while Activision proclaimed that over 10 million people signed up for Call of Duty: Elite, only around 2 million were paid subscribers.

And then there was the Call of Duty TV series that was supposed to be funny, starring the likes of Will Arnett and Jason Bateman, that turned out to be a total dud.

As such, when Black Ops II rolled around, Activision proclaimed that Call of Duty: Elite would be permanently free, with the Map Pack Season Pass being separate from Call of Duty: Elite. Despite all that, Activision began to phase out Call of Duty: Elite, not even including it with the release of Call of Duty: Ghosts, instead promoting Clan War and the Call of Duty app.

As for what happens when Call of Duty: Elite gets shut down? According to the FAQ, all Black Ops II and Modern Warfare 3 clan management tools will no longer be accessible,  as well as clan medals. For those that accessed Call of Duty: Elite since January 1, 2014, there will be two hours of Double XP in Call of Duty: Ghosts. Activision has also stated that there “are no plans to bring Call of Duty: Elite back.”