GameStop moves 600K Call of Duty Elite subscriptions, a 'top 10 launch' this year

by Christopher Grant on Nov 17th 2011 8:15PM

Wondering how Call of Duty Elite is doing? Well, stability-wise it's still a touch-and-go mess. But sales wise, you could call it a "hit." During an earnings call today, GameStop prez Tony Bartel said, "In the case of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, we worked closely with Activision, Sony and Microsoft to pre-order and deliver nearly 600,000 instances of the Modern Warfare Elite DLC to date."

So a single retailer delivered 600,000 paying subscribers to Call of Duty Elite, on the back of 6.5 million day one purchases across all retailers. That sounds significant, right? Bartel says, "This places the launch of Elite as one of our top 10 launches of the year so far." We followed up with GameStop for some additional color, and were told Call of Duty Elite "is the most successful DLC launch of all time," for the retailer. Still think Elite was a bad idea?

[Image credit: bfads.net]

Source: Gamasutra

Tags: activision, beachhead-studios, call-of-duty-elite, call-of-duty-modern-warfare-3, gamestop, Infinity-Ward, microsoft, modern-warfare-3, pc, playstation, ps3, sledgehammer-games, xbox

Reader Comments (57)

Why am I supposed to buy COD elite again?

@Timjoy if you're going to buy all the dlc then you would go with elite to save a few bucks in the long run. If not then it would be a waste of $50 for you.

@Yongousen

Oh, and don't forget the busted stat-tracking interface! But seriously, if you like to get the map packs it's a good deal.

@Brian333
"If if you like to get the overpriced map packs, it 's a good deal"
fixed.

@ApexOneder
It's sad that their DLC will add up to over $50.

@Yongousen

It's not a great deal if the maps are shit, like they've always been since COD4.

@stiqlol they need to hire staff from capcom and epic so they can learn about on disc dlc...
These poor misguided souls at Activision...
don't they know how much money they'd help save on bandwidth?
108kb < 1.5GB

basic math classes is needed

@ApexOneder
You know that its a trick to make Games $100, and us be happy about it.

@ApexOneder

I think the problem is they advertise the DLC like its crazy new single player levels, new items and/or gameplay tweaks (we used to call them cheat codes) or new fun game modes. When we ALL know it will be maps. Maps. That's it. Maps. Probably 4 different packs of them. PROBABLY a few that you already bought for a different game (brought back for "nostalgia". Rockstar does DLC. Activison milks out maps that add up to almost the price of the original game.

but people will see the word ELITE!!!111 and grab their credit cards (or their mom's)

They managed to find 600k who despise having money, that all.

600K suckered in?

600k parents who caved in to their whining kids.

I still don't understand what exactly cod elite is!

"Wondering how Call of Duty Elite is doing? "

No.

one mans junk is another mans treasure

@SkizzNutt509
No homo.

So there are 600k idiots that buy a purely digital product at a retail store? That's so reassuring...

@mietha

What does buying it at the store have to do with anything?

@mietha Some people are uncomfortable with putting their credit card info online, so this is the next best option for them.

@mietha

Or if you're like me, you have powerup rewards and got it for $30 instead of $50? Also, cash over credit like said above.

@Demon G Sides

I have PUR. How did you get Elite for $30? I'd like to get in on that.

@Demon G Sides
WHAT A NOOB BUYING AT GAMESTOP DOWNVOTE DOWNVOTE DOWNVOTE

/sarcasm

Once they get everything up and running for all the people, it will be awesome. The glances I had at it before it imploded were cool and I can't wait to hear about the first DLC.

It's popular to hate on something that's popular?

@Masker13

Thanks. My head hurts now.

@Masker13 That's funny because of your avatar.

@Masker13

Of course, It's impossible for people to not like Cod elite for any other reason than it's popular. It's the only reason!

@WeRequireMOARMinerals

That's what I was thinking! KAPLOWIE

@Masker13

Just like I'm a closet hipster, because being an out and about hipster is too mainstream and popular............let's all just get back to playing Skyrim and forget about this.

I have the ps3 free elite app and I find it easy to use and pretty useful. I will be buying paid status to save on dlc and get the locked features. I also love MW3. I also bought Skyrim arkham city and demons souls. Umad?

@880Cloud088

No just disappointed.

Doesn't surprise me. People have been paying for a competitive backend on PC for years, now console players have something similar.

What if they only release 2 map packs for mw 3?

@Jayeye

Nah, they promised to release DLC every month.

Of course the ps3 paid elite owners are *still* going to get shafted by getting it later than the paid 360 elite people, so I don't know how that's all going to go.

Of course, Activision could renege on the agreement and like you pointed out, perhaps release 2-3 map packs and that's it. Does the Hardened mw3 set even state in writing how many map packs players are supposed to get when the dust settles?

I'm going to get mad at someone for spending their money on something they want.

@IcehawkDown THIS.

Because if Activision offered a kick in the nuts as CoD DLC, people would buy it?

It's so funny how many haters came in here to "try" to put a negative spin on a great game. You gotta remember that you don't have to pay for it. If people did (like myself), It's because it's worth it.

Go back to BF3 or your single player games... I gotta go check my MW3 stats.. brb.

@StarcasM
People paid to for the Super Mario Brothers movie to be made too...
Just sayin'...

@StarcasM

Was your ending line supposed to make me feel jealous? Because I just laughed out loud at it

@IAmKitaRouge that's such a dumb analogy. People paying to get THAT movie made and people actually PAYING to go see it are 2 totally different things.

Try again

@StarcasM
But its ok for you to run your mouth about other games, right?

@StarcasM

Let me know when anybody and I mean anybody other than yourself gives a shyt about your stats. Check on them all you want, hell be obsessive over it. It might get you some poon!

@HighFiveJesus The best part of his comment for me is, I'm pretty sure I can track my stats in the free version. That is, if the free version and paid version actually worked.

Sales don't make something good or worthwhile, it just shows how stupid consumers are. Elite is still pointless, taking a lot of shit Black Ops gave you for free like the heat map, and tosses it into a paid package.

Yeah, it may be a smart idea on Activision's part knowing idiots would buy it, making investors happy. But we're consumers on this site, and to us, it's total bullshit.

@Jennacide

I'm not into CoD MP, but from what I can tell there are two levels of Elite... free and paid. The heat maps are included in the free accounts. I think the main reason someone would go the paid route is to get all the DLC for one price... theoretically a discounted rate of they release enough map packs. But I suppose that remains to be seen.

*if they release

@Jennacide

Ironically, your opinion on the service doesn't make something bad either. Every single person knows what they're getting themselves into when they pay for Elite. If it delivers what Call of Duty players wanted, it was successful.

If you were never going to play this game in the first place - well suffice to say it's pretty obvious Elite is not for you.

That made me laugh

@MelanieCrown Just die pls

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments

Aug	OCT	Jan
	17
2011	2012	2015

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

GameStop moves 600K Call of Duty Elite subscriptions, a 'top 10 launch' this year

Reader Comments (57)

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 8:17PM Timjoy said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 8:30PM ApexOneder said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 8:32PM Brian333 said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 8:44PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 9:17PM Hyperion45 said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 10:39PM kentuckyfried said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 11:11PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 12:56AM Apex Omega said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 8:03PM HighFiveJesus said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 8:21PM Nergy said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 8:21PM FlareSama said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 8:26PM FlashJS said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 8:27PM Rauland said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 8:30PM Master Troll said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 8:35PM SkizzNutt509 said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 2:59AM Epsilon said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 8:43PM mietha said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 8:45PM Vidikron said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 9:00PM NBear927 said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 10:02PM Demon G Sides said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 10:12PM FlashJS said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 10:16PM Hectic Effectz said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 8:45PM Gnomicidal said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 8:49PM Masker13 said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 9:16PM Vcize said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 9:36PM WeRequireMOARMinerals said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 10:19PM Draugdraugr said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 2:44AM Teeree said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 6:15AM IAmTheBabyJeezus said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 8:53PM 880Cloud088 said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 9:18PM Hyperion45 said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 9:22PM RageOverdose said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 9:29PM Jayeye said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 10:44PM kentuckyfried said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 9:40PM IcehawkDown said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 11:44PM Duke Ramswell said

Posted: Nov 17th 2011 9:43PM JGGiant915 said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 12:20AM StarcasM said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 1:48AM IAmKitaRouge said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 2:47AM Teeree said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 8:45AM StarcasM said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 1:23PM Klearwater Killer said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 8:07PM HighFiveJesus said

Posted: Nov 21st 2011 6:18AM Xero Theory said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 1:42AM Jennacide said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 2:36AM Vidikron said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 2:37AM Vidikron said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 6:09AM Gnomicidal said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 2:54AM Justinian said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 2:44AM Wizardsofwaverly said

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

Monaco coming to XBLA and PC simultaneously

Featured Stories

Video walkthrough: Xbox 360 Fall 2012 dashboard update

Gearbox boss on an industry inching toward the 'holodeck'

Super Joystiq Podcast Special: An hour with indie dev Vlambeer

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW