The "Premium" version of Call of Duty Elite has been priced at $49.99 a year, and while it may sound a bit steep to those who aren't "hardcore" players of the series, those who are could find some good in the package.
It goes without saying at this point, but Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will shell out downloadable content during the course of its life, and Premium members will be able to get access to all add-on packs before they release to the public. 20 pieces of content have been confirmed--including multiplayer maps, Spec Ops maps, and new game modes--and when bought separately there are said to total $60.
Clan support is also being heavily supported, as Premium members will be given the opportunity to level up their clans by kicking ass in tournaments and competitions. Activision's Eric Hirschberg compared this aspect of Elite to a fantasy football team, except that the players you are counting on to win and level up are your real life friends.
Those who love to upload and share videos will be pleased to hear that Premium members will have eight times the amount of save space compared to everybody else. And speaking of videos, expert strategies will be posted regularly on Elite, offering "high production value" content explaining the ins and outs of weapon tactics and map layouts.
There's other bits of content coming to Premium members as well, including Elite TV, a Hollywood-produced series of episodic videos, and Noob Toob, a series with funny men Will Arnett and Jason Bateman which, I won't go into because, who really cares about Jason Bateman?
Also confirmed at XP, the Hardened Edition of Modern Warfare 3 includes a free year of Premium membership to Elite, so those who were already going toward buying the high-end edition of Modern Warfare 3 will get everything noted above for free.
