The long-rumored subscription service tied to the 
hit Call of Duty franchise is finally reality. And that has some gamers worried and confused.
Activision has formally unveiled Call of Duty: Elite, a premium service that adds a social layer and exclusive content – along with a monthly fee – to the popular shooter. But the addition of that fee and the features the publisher have discussed have muddied the waters a bit around the franchise. Here are some answers to some of the biggest questions:
“Call of Duty” might be the best selling 
franchise in the video game industry, but Activision-Blizzard is looking to double down on its earnings potential.
The company has unveiled a subscription-based online service called “Call of Duty: Elite” that will provide extra content for players, including map packs and social network functionality for players.
Every day, the average Facebook user spends 
55 minutes clicking through the popular social networking site. That’s an impressive time sink — but players of Call of Duty: Black Ops have them beat.
Activision says since the First Strike downloadable content pack was released on February 1, players have averaged 58 minutes per day playing online. Given that the game itself is now over six months old, that’s a seriously dedicated fan base.
There’s no love lost between leading game 
publishers Activision and Electronic Arts, but this November the studios are planning their biggest battle yet.
EA CEO John Riccitiello, speaking at the Ad Age Digital Conference this week, confirmed that upcoming shooter Battlefield 3 will be released in November, putting it in a head-to-head battle with the latest Call of Duty game — widely expected to be Modern Warfare 3.
Odds are you’ve got certain days circled on your 
kitchen calendar. A birthday, an anniversary, perhaps the annual family trip to Disneyland — whatever it is, it’s something that happens the same time every year and it’s a day worth remembering.
Turns out the gaming world works in a very similar fashion. While the precise dates are a little more flexible, the industry has an uncanny knack for releasing new versions of hit games right around the exact same time each year.
While the Halo series might be one of the biggest 
names in the gaming universe, the Master Chief falls a bit short when it comes to his peers. Microsoft’s biggest franchise is nowhere to be found in the ranking of the industry’s best selling games, as ranked by life-to-date sales.
The list, calculated by the NPD Group, uses data that reaches back to 1995 is not inflation adjusted. (It looks at gross sales.) But it still shines some light on the biggest individual titles the industry. CNBC.com looks at the 10 biggest.
Activision-Blizzard has come 
a long way in the past few years.
It wasn’t that long ago that the company was an also-ran in video game industry, making some strong franchises, but never really dominating the sales charts. These days, though, the company is responsible for five of the 10 highest grossing games of all time.
The countdown is on for the next
installment in the “Call of Duty” franchise – and all signs are pointing to “Modern Warfare 3”.
Activision has sent out dog tags to select members of the press that include the message “end the war” and refer to athe website FindMakarov.com. That site (which is getting hammered right now) features a countdown clock that’s set to expire Wed. March 2 at 7am PST.
[UPDATED: Activision has issued a statement that the site has no ties to the “Call of Duty” franchise. The publisher has further clarified it had nothing to do with the dogtags sent to some media outlets, either.]
After two consistent years of negative growth, investors in the video game industry are hoping for things to start turning around in 2011, but they may have to wait a little longer for that to happen.
Analysts expect software sales in January, which will be announced after the market closes Thursday, to be well off of last year’s pace, as a lack of big titles and the traditional post-holiday slump drag down the retail sector.
While Wednesday’s announcement that 
Activision-Blizzard was pulling the plug on “Guitar Hero” might have turned heads in the gaming world, it was the company’s other announcement that might have bigger repercussions for investors.
As it cancelled games and the long-standing franchise, the publisher also announced plans to double down in the digital space and increase its focus on the lucrative “Call of Duty” franchise, two steps analysts say could significantly raise the company’s margins.
Chris Morris: Journalist 