Activision knew that the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 would be big. The game has managed to break pre-order records, and its multiplayer servers seem to managing the load quite well.

Its premium Call of Duty Elite subscription service, however, has not been able to manage the load. Many more are subscribing to the $50 annual membership, besting Activision's undoubtedly optimistic expectations. Since its inception, service has been "intermittent" at best. "We are having trouble scaling the service to meet demand," Activision admits. "Many of you are trying to get in and unfortunately, you can’t right now."

While Activision is preparing additional servers, the service page says that access to Elite services on both the console applications and website will be "temporarily" limited. Wait times to access Elite services are expected to still be "longer than you expect."

So what do angry Call of Duty fans, who paid extra for their Elite subscriptions, get in recompense for the spotty service? "We are immediately and automatically extending your membership to Call of Duty Elite by 30 days at no additional cost." If you haven't signed up yet, "we're going to extend Founder eligibility until the end of the month, and you will also receive the additional 30 days of access."