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Call of Duty might take a year off in 2023
Activision is reportedly skipping a major Call of Duty game in 2023 as it tries to slow the pace of releases.
The next Call of Duty will launch alongside a revamped 'Warzone'
The next Call of Duty game is a 'Modern Warfare' sequel, and it's launching in tandem with a brand new 'Warzone' experience.
'Call of Duty' shake-up may see 'Black Ops 5' arrive in 2020
Activision's Call of Duty release schedule has been predictable for years -- the company has rotated between three studios, with Treyarch pumping out a Black Ops game every three years like clockwork. However, you might be in for a surprise in 2020. Kotaku sources claim Activision has changed from its original plan, where Raven and Sledgehammer would produce a single-player oriented game, in favor of Treyarch taking the lead with Black Ops 5. It would still be set in the Cold War as intended, but Raven and Sledgehammer would be relegated to support studios adding a story to Treyarch's (presumably multiplayer-heavy) title.
'Call of Duty: WWII' takes zombies back to the front lines
Zombie mode is back for Call of Duty: WWII, and developer Sledgehammer Games just dropped a trailer for the undead nightmare mode. Of course, you and your pals are tasked with eradicating the Nazi zombie scourge. The trailer's YouTube description is as follows:
'Call of Duty' goes back to what it does best: historic warfare
After Infinite Warfare, I was ready to give up on Call of Duty. I just didn't think the futuristic space setting was very compelling and couldn't bring myself to finish the campaign. Just when I thought I was out though, Sledgehammer Games has pulled me back in. For the next installment of the franchise, the title is going back to its roots: World War II in Europe. To me, the historical Call of Duty games are the best ones, and this year's installment looks very promising.
CoD: Advanced Warfare gets 6 million viewers on Twitch in first week [Update]
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is apparently as fun to watch as it is to play, given that players spent 5.4 million hours watching Twitch streams of the game in its first week. That figure came from Variety, which noted that over 75,000 broadcasters streamed gameplay footage of Advanced Warfare on Twitch, resulting in more than 26 million views by six million people across all videos during the week. As Twitch confirmed via Twitter, Advanced Warfare became the most streamed console game on Twitch of the year "based on launch week comparisons." The latest Call of Duty dethroned Destiny, which saw five million unique viewers during its introductory week in September. The streaming platform, which was acquired by Amazon for nearly $1 billion in August, has in fact seen better weeks: After inking a three-year deal to become the Electronic Entertainment Expo's official streaming partner in March, 12 million viewers tuned in to Twitch during E3 2014 in June. Update: As a point of clarification, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was the console game with the biggest launch week of the year on Twitch based on the number of streamers, but has not been confirmed as the most streamed game of the year on the platform. We've updated the article and headline to reflect this. [Image: Activision]
Playdate: We're livestreaming 'Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare' on PS4! (update: game over!)
It's a series that's become as staid and expected as the turning of the seasons, and is consistently a "safe" bet if you're looking for a few hours of mindless fun in a tightly-scripted shooting gallery masked as an interactive narrative. Does it carry over to freshman studio Sledgehammer Games' turn at the franchise with Advanced Warfare?
Trion responds to Defiance cheating reports
Trion has responded to reports of cheating in its new Defiance MMO shooter. Community manager Mathew "Sledgehammer70" Everett says that the firm's "anti-cheat measures are both client-side and server-side" and that Trion is "beefing up on all aspects around this." He goes on to explain how the community cheat-reporting has been helpful to the developers, and that "in most cases these players are truly cheating." You can contact Trion's customer support if you want to report suspicious in-game activity, and be sure to check Sledgehammer's full post on Reddit. [Thanks Robert!]
Modern Warfare 3's last content collection arriving on PS3 and PC October 10
The last content bundle for Modern Warfare 3 is finally headed out to PlayStation and the PC on October 10, according to Infinity Ward's Twitter account. The content collection (which arrived on Xbox 360 back in the beginning of September) includes five different maps, called Decommission, Off Shore, Gulch, Boardwalk, and Parish. Call of Duty Elite subscribers will be able to grab the last three levels a day early, on October 9.This is, of course, the last scheduled content pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, seeing as Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is due out just about a month later. At that point, presumably, those Elite subscriptions will renew, and the cycle of of constant DLC for the biggest shooter series in the world will start up all over again.
Tour Call of Duty Elite's virtual world through the eyes of Modern Warfare 3
Worried about Mom on Facebook infiltrating your super elite squad of Modern Warfare 3 multiplayers? It looks like that won't be an issue with Call of Duty Elite's Facebok integration into MW3, though that guy from high school you don't wanna talk to might end up bugging you constantly. The good with the bad, folks.
Kmart sold Modern Warfare 3 early, copies wind up on eBay [update 2: pre-release probably OK?]
Rumors have been circulating today that Kmart stores have been selling copies of Modern Warfare 3 prior to its official debut next week. It's clear that a handful of copies were definitely sold, as several eBay listings for the game have been popping up (and taken down) all day. At least one listing that is still active does indeed include a picture of a Kmart receipt. It seems the company got wise to the error, as all the locations we called reported the November 8 release. We suppose if you really want MW3 five days early, you might be able to snag one. Of course, that's assuming you're willing to pay upwards of $100 and the listing survives underneath eBay's watchful gaze. Incidentally, if you find yourself with a legitimate retail Xbox copy, don't worry about playing it early. Stephen Toulouse, Microsoft's Xbox Live guru, has given the all-clear on Twitter. Update: Stephen Toulouse has posted a new update on Twitter, stating that Activision has not authorized pre-release play of Modern Warfare 3. According to Toulouse, "Playing early may impact your account!" Seems a bit unfair to anyone who may have legitimately purchased the game from a retailer, but there you go. Update 2: Now Both Infinity Ward Community Dude Robert Bowling and Mr. Toulouse have clarified that players with early copies of Modern Warfare 3 will not be banned or otherwise punished for playing the game online. We think. Who can tell at this point? [Thanks, Mike]
Modern Warfare 3 blows past Deathmatch in latest multiplayer trailer
When Modern Warfare 3 deploys to retail in a few weeks, multiplayer-centric CoD fans are gonna have much more than Deathmatch to enjoy. Project co-lead Michael Condrey is happy to explain those very modes in the latest dev diary, as seen above.
Take a tour of Call of Duty XP with IW director of rapid zooming, Robert Bowling
If you take away anything from this video tour of the upcoming Call of Duty XP event, it'll likely be the promise of how "insane" everything will be. But without a Kanye spotting over the entire two-minute clip, we're reserving that adjective for now.
Infinity Ward on the 'natural progression' of Call of Duty franchise development
"I can only speak on behalf of Infinity Ward, but I think it's a natural progression of how things have been going in general," Infinity Ward Creative Strategist Robert Bowling explained. We spoke last week during a Modern Warfare 3 preview event in Manhattan, in a hotel about 60 blocks north of the Wall Street setting in the game's campaign. I'd asked Bowling about the upcoming Call of Duty XP extravaganza, the variety of devs working on Modern Warfare 3, and if those things are an indication of a more unified franchise development structure -- a structure perhaps forged out of necessity, given the staff losses IW has seen over the past year. "We're at a state now in the Call of Duty franchise, where you have several teams working on CoD that have their own very distinct styles on what type of gameplay they deliver," he continued, in reference to Sledgehammer, Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Beachhead all working on various Call of Duty projects. "And I think that's a great thing for Call of Duty in general, especially if you're having games come out every year. To have very distinct flavors and to have very distinct styles, it allows us to innovate in different ways and not feel forced to innovate in the same ways and build on the same interactions in the other games." Infinity Ward was showing off the newly added Spec-Ops Survival mode at the event as well, where I was handily carried on Bowling's back through eight waves of enemies before a juggernaut murdered us both. Much like Gears of War's Horde and Halo's Firefight modes, Spec-Ops Survival is, by Bowling's own description, an "infinite wave-based mode." A lot like the Treyarch-developed Call of Duty "Zombies" mode that has thus far missed inclusion in any Modern Warfare release. While Bowling won't deny the allure of adding a Zombies mode to the Modern Warfare titles ("It's a stellar game mode!"), he believes that his branch of the franchise wouldn't be the right fit for it. "I think it comes down to design philosophies. Each game has its own personality and voice. Ours typically stick to the authentic/fun aspects, where there's goes in a different directions that's still fun, but unique to Treyarch's voice and their design sensibilities," he explained. He wouldn't outright say whether or not Spec-Ops is exclusive to IW/Sledgehammer, or if Zombies mode is exclusive to Treyarch, but it seems to be heavily encouraged that it stays as such. But then, he's only able to speak on behalf of Infinity Ward.
13 minutes of unadulterated Modern Warfare 3 footage, through the streets of Manhattan
The fact that Joystiq's offices are located not too far from the Manhattan-based battle in these 13 minutes of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 makes this post a bit ... awkward for us to write. On one hand, the concept of liberating the Huffington Post Media Group newsroom from Russian invaders is thrilling. On the other hand, when we play games, we kind of like to forget about the office. And then on our other, third hand, there's the slightly enjoyable thought of seeing the New York Stock Exchange turned to rubble. You'll excuse us, but we're still a bit mad about that whole international financial crisis. Anyway, head past the break to check out the full gameplay clip.
Sledgehammer Games hires Guy 'Dr. DisRespect' Beahm as community lead
The beaming guy you see in the image above isn't just another pretty face in the gaming industry -- he's Guy Beahm, new community manager at Sledgehammer Games. Like Josh Olin at Treyarch and Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling at Infinity Ward before him, Beahm will be taking the lead on community activities and promotion for the third Call of Duty studio. As a result, we expect his Twitter account to start exploding any minute. Beahm will apparently be discontinuing his "Dr. DisRespect" online moniker in favor of something more befitting his new position. "While it was entertaining to develop content through the Dr. DisRespect character, it's time for him to retire," Beahm said in the official announcement. We've dropped his final Dr. DisRespect skit after the break as a reminder of what Beahm once was ... and what he could've been.
Activision and EA trade barbs over corporate cultures
Activision's Bobby Kotick and EA's Jeff Brown engaged in a little Battlefield of Duty: Corporate Warfare 2 match this week, lobbing sound bites back and forth at each other. Kotick was first, boasting in the latest issue of Edge (via Next-Gen.biz) that his company allows its studios to maintain their independent cultures; citing Treyarch, the embattled Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games as examples. Kotick suggested that EA doesn't offer this luxury, and that's why Activision has successfully hired developers from its competitor's ranks. "We have no shortage of opportunity to recruit out of EA," he said. "That's their biggest challenge: Its stock options have no value. It's lost its way." Of course, Brown, EA's corp comm VP, was quick to respond: "[Kotick's] company is based on three game franchises -- one is a fantastic persistent world he had nothing to do with; one is in steep decline; and the third is in the process of being destroyed by Kotick's own hubris." Though Brown didn't clarify which franchises he was referring to, we'll throw out three names for you -- and you can play the matching game! Here goes: Guitar Hero, Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. The two suits probably had more to say to each other, but at that point the other players muted them both, and a few seconds later the actual match started up.
Red Faction: Armageddon and the balance of open-world versus story-driven
THQ and Volition brought Red Faction: Armageddon to Comic-Con last weekend, and even though the demo on display was the same one we saw behind closed doors at E3, we threatened to collapse their headquarters with a Nano Forge if they didn't tell us something new about the game. Volition producer Dan Sutton and writer Drew Holmes gave us a little insight on what they're planning to do with the story of Darius Mason, Alec's grandson. Let's get the important stuff out of the way first: The sledgehammer is coming back, so don't worry about that. As for the Ostrich, I didn't get confirmation so much as laughter from the developers, but they said that there would probably be something silly in the game this time around, depending on what the community came up with. "It's up to NeoGAF," joked Holmes. "Someone will photoshop something, and then we'll be stuck." %Gallery-97741%
Activision exec Thomas Tippl speaks out on current Infinity Ward conditions
Ever since the private relationship between the ex-Infinity Ward heads and Activision management broke down and became a publicly debated matter (through two lawsuits), the state of affairs at IW have been up in the air. Various reports from "sources close to the studio" have arisen at Kotaku, with one alleged insider calling the studio "dead" and another giving a far less grim report. Activision execs, however, have been fairly quiet on the situation -- that is, until now: Chief Operating and Financial Officer Thomas Tippl spoke with the LA Times Company Town blog this week, saying that the development house "still has nearly 100 people," he claims. "They've built a deep bench, and the change of guard will provide an opportunity for some of the rising stars to put their own stamp on the Call of Duty franchise." Further, he refutes charges that his company has been anything other than good to its studios. "We treat our developers extremely well," Tippl stated. He contineud that Activision's "independent studio model" allows developers "a lot of creative freedom while we take care of the back office stuff." Whatever the internal issues are, he reconfirmed that three separate internal studios are currently hard at work on Call of Duty titles.
What's in a Name: Sledgehammer Games
It's been awhile since we've brought you the origin story of an industry presence, so here's what Glen Schofield had to say about coining his new studio, "Sledgehammer Games," during our recent chat: "We wanted to establish, with more than just a name, our passion and dedication to the studio goals -- from building a world class culture and team, to delivering top quality games -- so we needed a brand for the studio. We started with a list of adjectives that reflect our personality, style and games we like to play and make. Some were hilarious, and some didn't have a chance of getting through legal approval. In the end, Sledgehammer Games always stuck out. "We mocked up slogans for the studio in the same spirit. Slogans like 'hard hitting entertainment' and 'high impact games' seemed to capture the idea, and Sledgehammer nailed both really well. For us, the name Sledgehammer and logo felt right -- it's something that leaves its mark, and that's what we intend to do. We work hard and play hard, and in the end we plan to leave our mark within the gaming community. "It worked out well for us as we can also have a lot of fun with the logo, website and other branding opportunities. In fact, I am getting it tattooed on my forehead tomorrow." –Glen A. Schofield, GM and V.P. of Sledgehammer Games Like this feature? Be sure to check out the What's In A Name Archives.
