No competitive advantage with COD: Elite
"You can't buy your way into Prestige."
Those who subscribe to multiplayer service Call of Duty: Elite will battle on a level playing field against those who don't, developer Beachhead has insisted.
"If you are worried about someone buying their way into Prestige or Activision selling people special weapons that they wouldn't normally be able to earn through gameplay, don't be - that's not what Elite is about," Activision's Dan Amrich said.
"We're not doing anything like that," Beachhead boss Chacko Sonny added.
"It's not part of the plan."
Elite expands the multiplayer Call of Duty experience with free and premium features – although Activision is yet to reveal exactly what the premium subscription will provide.
"Additional offerings above and beyond the core stuff will come with a fee," Amrich explained. "The simplest and best analogy I can think of is television. You can watch NBC, CBS, and ABC all you want, just for the price of buying a TV. However, if you want more - Comedy Central or HBO or NBA League Pass - then you subscribe to a cable or satellite service to get those extra programs.
"You don't have to; it's a question of whether or not you want to see those other shows. If you're happy with your usual high-quality network television, keep on enjoying it. If you want more content from your TV, you can choose to subscribe to more. Does that make it seem less terrifying?"
Elite launches alongside Modern Warfare 3 this November for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A public beta is planned for the summer.