The long wait for Modern Warfare 3 is finally at an end. Just one short year after the record breaking release of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Modern Warfare 3 has amassed a vast number of pre-orders and is on track to sell six million copies its first day.

As with any release on the scale of Modern Warfare 3, some things are bound to go wrong. Unlike the terror of the armed gunmen who attacked French delivery trucks, today's issue is as mundane as can be: players are having difficulty registering for the just launched Call of Duty: Elite.

A message on the Call of Duty: Elite Service Status page offers a full rundown of the situation.

We are proud to say that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has launched and millions of people are already playing online.

Registration requests for our new live service Call of Duty Elite are exceeding even our most optimistic expectations, which is creating a bottleneck and some players have not been able to register.

We have already registered hundreds of thousands of players and we are working around the clock to increase our capacity as quickly as possible.

If you encounter this issue, please check back here or follow us at @CallofDutyElite on Twitter for live status updates.

Please be assured your gameplay data is safe and that whenever you successfully register for Call of Duty Elite, all of your data will be waiting for you. So enjoy the game, start ranking up and we assure you we are working around the clock to accommodate every player who wants to be a part of Call of Duty Elite as quickly as possible. We will update you frequently to keep you informed.

Thanks for your patience,

Chacko Sonny

Studio Head, Beachhead Studio

It's currently unclear just how many players have been affected by Call of Duty: Elite registration problems, though a tweet from the @CallofDutyElite account notes that, "We're working to increase capacity for the hundreds of thousands of players wanting membership." So, apparently, a lot.

While some players may be reassured by Activision's quick work in addressing the Elite issues, it's tough not to wonder why those issues popped up at all. Call of Duty: Black Ops is, by some estimates, the best selling game of all time -- did Activision not expect Black Ops players to migrate to MW3? For that matter, the Call of Duty: Elite beta has been running since July. Shouldn't that have helped get the service ready for today?

Then again, this is Modern Warfare 3 we're talking about, the game that tops more holiday wishlists than any other. All but certain to dominate sales charts and online play for the foreseeable future, Modern Warfare 3 truly is the game many players have waited all year for. Perhaps waiting just a bit longer for Elite registration isn't so bad after all.

Ranters, have you had trouble registering for Call of Duty: Elite? What do you think of Modern Warfare 3?

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is available now for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS, and PC.

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Source: Call of Duty: Elite, @CallofDutyElite