Activision is doing what it should have done from the beginning - make Call of Duty Elite available to everyone entirely free of charge. When Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is released later in the year, Elite will be free and that's a good thing.

When Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was released back in 2011, Activision brought with it what the company calls Elite. The Elite package allowed gamers to upload in-game recordings to YouTube, do Clan-based stuff, and above all, get all DLC releases for free. However, there was a catch to the whole thing; gamers were required to pay a $50 subscription per year. This begins to become expensive when you take into consideration other fees gamers have to pay.

Those who game on the Xbox 360 know only too well about paying to play online. So another $50 per year to experience some cool things in Call of Duty Elite is pure and utter madness. While there was a free version of Elite, it pales in comparison to the pay-to-play thing; honestly, it doesn't require much mentioning here.

With the coming of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Activision is changing its tune and making Call of Duty Elite free for all. However, don't get too excited just yet. You see all those free DLC maps? You'll be required to pay for them all now. Downloadable contents will be sold separately for $50 with a season pass, which is a one-time payment for all DLC maps throughout the whole year. Map packs will cost the gamer $15 per pack. So from the looks of things, it all works out just the same.

The Map packs were the main reason gamers signed up for Elite. Now those are stripped from the service. Trivial things such as uploading videos to YouTube and getting down and dirty with your Clan is free as it should have been from the get go.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is scheduled for released on the Xbox 360, PC and PS3 on Nov. 13, 2012.