Call of Duty series is getting its own social network

The game sold more than £400 million of copies in its first five days

The publishers of the hugely successful Call of Duty series have announced that it is going to get its own social network.

Activision says Call of Duty Elite will launch on 8 November.

That means it will coincide with the worldwide release of the hotly-anticipated next chapter in the series, Modern Warfare 3.

However users of the latest COD game, Black Ops, will be able to try out a Beta version beforehand.

Activision says COD Elite will "give gamers more ways to connect than ever before".

Although the specific details are yet to be announced a statement said gamers will be able to "join competitive clans or social groups, or upload, view and comment on the incredible mass of player-generated content, or watch and comment on exclusive created content".

There will also be a coach element to the network.

Called Improve it will provide players with a "dynamic strategy guide that tracks their statistics and performances down to the most minute details".

Premium service

But some of the series' 30 million fans aren't happy with one aspect of the idea.

Because whilst parts of the social network will be free others will be reserved for a premium service that users will have to pay for.

An Activision statement said the network will "offer a premium membership with a wide range of state of the art services, exclusive entertainment programming and all-inclusive game content for less than the cost of any comparable online entertainment service currently in the market."

But whatever reservations there are from certain sections of the gaming community there is no doubt Call of Duty Elite will do well.

The last game in the COD series, Black Ops, was the biggest video game of last year.

It broke records on launch day in November 2010 and made £400 million in its first week on sale.

Follow Radio 1's technology reporter Dan Whitworth on Twitter