In a kind of Facebook for military buffs and action-game enthusiasts, Activision will launch a social network 
to connect players of its hit Call of Duty franchise this fall. A limited beta version will be open to select users this summer.
Activision says Call of Duty: Elite -- allowing two-way communication , organized tournaments for virtual prizes, matching of players with similar skill levels, and tutorials -- will eventually link more than 30 million players of the first-person shooter game worldwide.
It will be built into the next version of the game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, to be released on Nov. 8.
Supercharged Community
"The average Call of Duty player spends 58 minutes per day playing multiplayer," said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. "That is more than the average Facebook user spends per day on Facebook. And yet, right now, there are very few tools to unite and supercharge that social community."
"Whether it's allowing you to connect with your friends, or people of a similar skill level, people who live in your city, people who share your favorite passions, join competitive clans or social groups, or upload, view and comment on the incredible mass of player-generated content, or watch and comment on exclusive created content, Call of Duty: Elite will give people more ways to connect with fellow players than ever before," Hirshberg said.
A premium membership in the free service will be available for an as-yet-undisclosed price, with Activision promising "a wide range of state-of-the-art services, exclusive entertainment programming, and all-inclusive game content for less than the cost of any comparable online entertainment service currently in the market."
First released in 2003, Call of Duty has sold more than 55 million copies and is available for Nintendo's Game Cube, DS and Wii; Microsoft's Xbox and Xbox 360; Sony's PlayStation 2 and 3; and in software for PCs and Macs.
Activision is hardly the first gamemaker to unite fans of a single game into an interactive community, said Michael Inouye, digital home analyst for ABI Research.
No Game Changer
"One could point to numerous games from companies like Zynga that employ strong social-networking features in the game-play experience," he said. "In addition, many MMO games [massively multiplayer online] like Blizzard's WoW also utilize social-networking elements, be it guilds, forums, LAN parties, etcetera. In addition, the game consoles leverage social networking with messages, 'friends' and, for the PS3, Sony Home -- a virtual world where gamers can congregate and invite others to play games."
"Adding a social element to multiplayer is something Blizzard has done for years with things like Battle.net," Inouye added.
But he sees Call of Duty: Elite as "one of the more concerted efforts to bring a social aspect to a first-person shooter -- above and beyond the usual chat and invites."
Because Call of Duty players tend to be passionate about the experience, he said, with some even purchasing add-ons such as map packs, "it stands to good business sense to leverage the property and capture as much value from consumers as possible." That devotion also bodes well for the possibility that many gamers will sign up for the premium service, he added.
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