Activision has announced that a public beta for Call of Duty: Elite will launch in the summer, months in advance of the service's full release later in the year.
"We're thrilled with the rest of the world to experience it for the first time during our public beta this summer, where your feedback will help us perfect this service for launch later this year," said Mark Cox, Digital Marketing Director for Call of Duty, talking at a press conference held by Activision last week.
"Elite was built from the ground up to change the way our consumers experience multiplayer in all current and future Call of Duty games.
"We see it as delivering a new level of social and community interaction for the Call of Duty franchise, and in an always-on, always connected gaming world, the innovation in Elite is just as important as the advancements in graphics and gameplay.
"This is one of our most exciting and ambitious undertakings for Activision."
The service, which has been developed by Activision's newly-formed Beachhead Studios, lets players connect and compete with other Call of Duty players in a feature-loaded online stat-tracking and social networking service.
The service will be available to customers in two membership options; free or premium, with the latter offering an all-inclusive package with access to leagues and all Modern Warfare 3 DLC. A free service will offer in-depth stat-tracking and access to online social groups, similar to Bungie.net.
Call of Duty: Elite launches with Modern Warfare 3 later this year.