Prior to the commencement of this weekend’s Call of Duty XP event in Los Angeles (celebrating all things Call of Duty), and following an ‘out’ by Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling, there was a lot of information floating around concerning the special Hardened Edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, with content lists and dates spilled.

Now, however, we’ve received official word on this limited edition version of Modern Warfare 3. Let’s dig in!

Releasing on November 8th alongside the regular version of the game, the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Hardened Edition will retail for $99.99 in the US and will include the following items of (major) interest:

• The Call of Duty: MW3 game disc, featuring unique disc art
• 1-year Call of Duty Elite premium membership, including:
  • 20 pieces of Modern Warfare 3 DLC delivered over a 9 month period
  • Incredible variety, including new MP maps, Spec Ops missions and game modes
  • Ownership of all DLC, even if your membership expires
  • Prized Events, Operations, Leagues and custom in-game playlist and modes
• Special Founder status on Call of Duty Elite, including:
  • Unique Founder weapon camo and profile skin
  • Exclusive Founder in-game Player Card and Emblem
  • Access to the private “”#Founder” Group
  • Special Founder Clan XP boost
  • Special Founder Operations, Events and Leagues
  • Exclusive Founder prizes and experiences
• Premium, collectible steelbook case
• Exclusive Special Ops Juggernaut Xbox LIVE outfit
• Limited edition, collectible field journal chronicling the entire saga with 100+ pages of authentic military sketches, diagrams and written entries

At first glimpse, $100 may seem like quite a chunk of change in exchange for the game and some trinkets, but if you look closely, you’ll notice that items such as future downloadable content (which usually retail for $15 at a time) and membership to Call of Duty Elite are included.

That collectible field journal doesn’t sound too shabby, either, so if you’re a big enough Call of Duty fan that intends investing hundreds of hours into Modern Warfare 3, then $100 spread out over many months of game time starts sounding like a much better proposition.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launches around the world on November 8th, across Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Peruse El33tonline’s past coverage at this industry-crunching title, with brand new looks at the game’s multiplayer modes courtesy of the Call of Duty XP event.

Note to South African gamers: BT Games has let it be known that the Hardened Edition of Modern Warfare 3 will no be available in the country. From a Twitter post:

“[Modern Warfare 3] Hardened Edition not coming to SA”

This was followed by a ‘Frowny Face’ emoticon to denote the poster’s displeasure with the news. We are also displeased. Frowny Face

Source: CallOfDuty.com