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Exo Zombies invade Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare trailer
The latest trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare shows off the game's upcoming downloadable content, Exo Zombies. Arriving as part of the first content pack, Havoc, Exo Zombies features the voice acting talents of John Malkovich, Bill Paxton, Rose McGowan and Jon Bernthal. The Havoc DLC pack will launch on January 27 for Xbox One and Xbox 360. Havoc also includes four multiplayer maps, the AE4 assault rifle and Widowmaker custom variant. While the Havoc DLC can be purchased separately for $15, season pass holders will receive the pack at no additional charge. Advanced Warfare's $50 season pass grants access to three other pieces of downloadable content: Ascendance, Supremacy and Reckoning. Activision struck a deal with Microsoft to bring Advanced Warfare DLC to the Xbox platforms before it arrives on other systems, so the publisher has yet to offer a release date for Havoc on PS4, PS3 or PC. [Image: Activision]
Destiny tops PS4 downloads in 2014
Bungie's Destiny topped the PlayStation Store's PS4 best-sellers list for all of 2014, Sony revealed today. The store's top sellers on the current-generation console don't include many surprises; Grand Theft Auto 5 took the second spot, followed by Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Minecraft and The Last of Us Remastered to round out the top five. GTA 5 was the most purchased PS4 game in the month of December. As for PS3 games, Minecraft led all purchases on the system in 2014 on the PS Store, followed by GTA 5, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny and Battlefield 4. Likewise, the list of top-selling PS4 and PS3 add-ons are a mix of Destiny, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Call of Duty: Ghosts DLC for the most part; Battlefield 4 Premium and The Last of Us' Left Behind DLC swooped in to the third spot in the PS4 and PS3 lists, respectively. Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment was the highest-selling game last year on the PlayStation Store for Vita. The Bandai Namco RPG was trailed on the handheld system by Minecraft, Killzone: Mercenary, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z and Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster. [Image: Activision]
Activision takes victory lap, Destiny biggest new game franchise launch
Let us be colloquial: Activision makin' mad bank, yo. Like, all the cheddar. The publisher took a victory lap this morning, reiterating the top placement of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare during yesterday's NPD, the success of Skylanders among children and making a pertinent addendum to Destiny's sales in 2014. Last night, US retail tracking group NPD released its year-end data, with Destiny ranked third behind Call of Duty and Madden NFL 15. Activision noted this morning that Destiny was in second place "among all titles in the U.S. in 2014, based on revenue." This would reflect the significant digital distribution push Destiny had, as well as the special editions and expansion bundles.
First CoD: Advanced Warfare DLC aims for late-January launch
Havoc is the title of what publisher Activision is calling an "epic DLC pack" and the "definitive DLC offering" for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. In less grandiose terms, it's known as the game's first DLC pack. Alongside the trailer beyond the break, and the images found above and in the gallery below, Activision sent over a brief synopsis of what's inside the near-future shooter's first major addition. Included are four new multiplayer maps, two new weapons and the Exo Zombies cooperative mode, which is less notable for its undead enemies than for its human protagonists played by big-name, established actors like John Malkovich and Bill Paxton. It appears that Microsoft has struck up an exclusivity agreement with Activision as the Havoc DLC "will be available first, exclusively on Xbox LIVE for a suggested retail price of $15 on January 27." There's currently no word on when the DLC will reach other platforms. [Image: Activision]
Call of Duty Championship offers $1M prize pool in March
Activision's Xbox-sponsored Call of Duty Championship returns to Los Angeles across March 27-29, and 32 teams are once again doing battle for their share of the $1 million prize money. A new championship requires a new battlefield (wordage intended), so it's fortunate there is the recently-released Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare for this year's competitors. If you and your friends think you've got what it takes, the championships are open to players both pro and non-pro (you're no amateur). You'll need to qualify first, though, and to do that you'll have to make it through online tournaments and live regional finals, all played on Xbox One. MLG.TV has further details here. As for the main event, you can tune in live to the Championship's semi finals and grand final on Xbox Live, and the final's confirmed for "other broadcast partners" too. [Image: Disney, Activision]
You can still browse New Years deals on the Xbox Marketplace
New year, same simple pleasures - Shockingly, it turns out that saving money in 2015 is just as fun as it was in 2014! In recognition of this truth, Xbox Marketplace's existing, week-long New Years deals have been extended until January 6, providing a range of savings across the Xbox One and Xbox 360 libraries. We've noticed discrepancies when checking for sale prices between console and browser-based store views however, so keep that in mind as you explore. The sale's highlights include $44.99 price tags for Destiny and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on both platforms, Alien Isolation for $29.99 on Xbox One ($33.49 on Xbox 360), Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition for $39.99 and Forza Horizon 2's Day One Deluxe Edition for $67.99. The Telltale Games Collection for Xbox One is also 50 percent off ($55), though despite Major Nelson's related post listing it as a general offer, that price is only available to Xbox Live Gold members. If none of the above strike your interest, perhaps you'll find something by browsing the sale in its entirety. You do own The Orange Box and Red Dead Redemption by now though, don't you? [Image: Activision, Telltale Games, Sega]
UK charts close out 2014 with CoD: Advanced Warfare as king
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is the last UK No. 1 of 2014, which isn't too surprising since this week's charts are nearly identical to last week's. You can check out that almost static top 10 below the break (along with the sometimes underwhelming but always customary music video). Meanwhile above the break, we're going to look back on a year of UK charts through the hallowed medium of statistics. And so: Joystiq's Somewhat Scatterbrained UK Charts Statistics of 2014 20 different games topped the charts in 2014 across 52 weeks 5 of those were re-releases, with 7 weeks worth of No. 1s between them Surprise surprise, FIFA 15 scored the longest run of consecutive No. 1s in 2014 (6) Between them, FIFA 14 and FIFA 15 held the top spot for a total of 15 weeks Add in Advanced Warfare and Titanfall, and that total goes up to 25 weeks The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was Joystiq's lowest-rated game to earn a UK No. 1 (2 stars) Grand Theft Auto 5 became the UK's all-time bestseller when it hit PS4 and Xbox One. No. of times we've badly shopped Chelsea footballer Eden Hazard a la FIFA 15 into images of other games: 3, including this week.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is UK's Christmas No. 1
Ding dong merrily on high / In the UK CoD is winning Ding dong verily the sky / In LA Kotick's grinning Spa-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-aycey Kevin in excelsis! Like an exosuit-clad soldier sneaking stealthily down the chimney, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare sneaks up on FIFA 15 to nick the UK Christmas No. 1. Activision's shooter usurped EA's kicker with a last-minute promotion, which according to Chart Track makes it the fifth CoD ever to claim the top spot in merrytime. Outside of that excitement, the UK charts are getting into the holiday spirit by barely moving an inch. Nonetheless, if you jingle below the break you'll find the full top ten, and this week a very festive edition of the customary music video - sort of.
Malkovich, Paxton star in Advanced Warfare Exo Zombies
When Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is overrun with zombies, who do you want standing at your side? If you answered "anyone who survived The Walking Dead's zombie apocalypse," "that girl with the gun-leg from Planet Terror," "the general keeping humanity from extinction in Warm Bodies" and "someone with expertise in exoskeletal power armor, like the Master Sergeant from Edge of Tomorrow," we have two things to say to you: One, wow that's a specific list. Like ... really, absurdly specific. And two, congratulations! You'll get all four when the Exo Zombies mode comes to Call of Duty. According to a new teaser (which you can view above), the Exo Zombies mode will feature the talents of Jon Bernthal (Shane, The Walking Dead), Rose McGowan (Cherry Darling, Planet Terror), John Malkovich (Grigio, Warm Bodies) and Bill Paxton (Master Sergeant Farell, Edge of Tomorrow; also Private Hudson, Aliens). Unfortunately, there's still very little of the mode to be seen in action, so chew on what morsels of gameplay video you can before the zombies chew on Xbox-owning brains in January, and other platform owners at a later date. [Image: Activision]
Joystiq Weekly: Final Fantasy 15, The Crew review, readers' favorite PS1 games and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. The Final Fantasy series has had a fun couple of weeks lately, but between the PC version of Final Fantasy 7 coming to the PS4 and Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster's incoming port, most of its news is focused on the past. Leave it to the spring release of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD, a take on an old PSP game, to bring things into the present – those that grab a copy from Type-0's first run will get an exclusive demo of Final Fantasy 15. So, Final Fantasy fans: Is it going to work? Are you going for Type-0 HD solely because of the demo, or do you kind of want to play the game anyway? Don't worry if it's the former – plenty of people only bought Crackdown to get into the Halo 3 beta before even realizing developer Realtime Worlds' superhero sandbox had its own merits. Demos and ports weren't the only thing that happened this week – The internet seemingly frustrated Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada enough to keep a character out of the North American release, we reviewed The Crew and Never Alone, and we highlighted our readers' favorite PS1 games. Those stories and more are all waiting for you after the break!
Weekend deals include GOG bundles, Shadow of Mordor, Wii U bundles, 3DS XLs
Should you be looking for a few good gaming deals, this weekend holds plenty of promise. For starters, Good Old Games is finishing off its Big Winter Sale with an encore offering of every daily bundle that was featured in the two-week sale. Deals focused on The Witcher, Rayman, Prince of Persia series and others can be had, with titles ranging in support for PC, Mac and Linux platforms. Flash deals and general discounts will also be offered until the sale's conclusion later today at 2pm GMT. If you're willing to deal with limited availability of physical goods, deals on several notable console games are also available to the swift; Among Amazon's batch of sales is Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Xbox One) for $27.99, Driveclub (PS4) for $34.99, Halo: The Master Chief Collection (Xbox One) for $44.99, The Last of Us: Remastered ($29.99), Forza Horizon 2 and Sunset Overdrive (Xbox One) for $39.99, and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 (Xbox 360, PS3) for $14.99. Xbox owners can also snatch up Destiny (Xbox 360) and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Xbox One) for $30 apiece from the Microsoft store. Lastly, leaked details concerning Target's weekly ad suggest that starting on Sunday, the retail chain will offer the 32 GB Wii U with Super Mario 3D World and Nintendo Land for $250. Shoppers should also be able to pick up a 3DS XL for $149.99. [Image: GOG]
Report: Call of Duty retail sales fall for third straight year
Following yesterday's NPD report, Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson points out that retail sales for the Call of Duty series have declined by 27 percent year-over-year. This is not isolated news, either. The Call of Duty series has posted slumping sales in each of the past three years. While Activision's military shooters manage to sell well compared to other games the franchise is unable to reach the heights it once saw. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare currently tops the NPD sales chart, but as Games Industry notes, this entry attracted less than half the first month sales of 2011's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Earlier this year, analysts at Cowen And Company pointed out that alongside declining sales, the Call of Duty games are also attracting declining pre-orders, with Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare drawing nearly 40 percent fewer retail pre-purchases than its predecessor. Activision claims that Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is the highest selling digital launch in console history but Olson does not believe that digital sales (which these analysts are not privy to) can entirely soften the blow of the retail sales slide. "NPD data does not include digital copies or international sales, which, if included, would lessen the year-over-year decline, but we believe this data suggests potential for Q4 revenue upside is now very low," Olson stated. [Image: Activision]
FIFA 15 reclaims top, The Crew cuts in at sixth in UK charts
Captain Toad isn't adventuring in Europe until next month, so that leaves The Crew as the only major new release in this week's UK charts. Ubisoft's online-roaming racer takes to the grid in sixth place, cruising just behind the typical glob of big hitters. You can tell the silly season's beginning to die out when the latest FIFA is back on top, sat just in front of the latest Call of Duty. Just to prove it's not too predictable, this week the UK chucks Lego Batman 3 back up to fifth on the back of retailer promotions, while lower down Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix debuts in 31st place. For the full top ten and the customary (but not predictable) music video, head past the break.
Major Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare patch hits PS4, Xbox One
A significant Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare update addressing multiple gameplay issues is now available on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, developer Sledgehammer Games announced this week. Advanced Warfare's "biggest title update yet" patches Goliath clipping and out-of-bounds glitches, fixes dozens of UI and HUD issues, and rebalances many weapon types across all multiplayer modes. The patch additionally tweaks broadcast and eSports-specific settings, and upgrades Advanced Warfare's anti-cheat enforcement system, eliminating many previously published exploits. While this week's update is currently exclusive to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of Advanced Warfare, Sledgehammer Games notes that an equivalent patch will launch for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC platforms "soon." [Image: Activision]
Top CoD: Advanced Warfare players get ironic armor
Developer Sledgehammer Games has a special reward for those Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare players tough enough to survive the weaponry of the near-future, an overacting Kevin Spacey and the horrors of playing online, though it's as garish as it is anachronistic. In lieu of hyper plastics and glowing LEDs - the de facto aesthetic for the game - the armor awarded to the top 100 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare players apes overwrought Renaissance-era ceremonial armor with fine Baroque details and what appear to be precious gems. Apparently once you've cracked the elite ranks of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare there's no need for stealth, so you may as well dress like a militant Fabergé egg. Sledgehammer offers no details on how the armor is distributed to the upper tiers of the online shooter's leaderboards, nor does it offer information on what happens if a player falls out of the top 100. Do players have to go back to drab, boring military colors after a few brief moments as a fabulous peacock of death? We've attempted to contact Sledgehammer Games and will update this story with anything we hear back. [Image: Activision]
Exo Zombies will debut with Havoc DLC in January
The previously-announced return of zombies in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will rush Xbox One players that purchase the Havoc DLC pack in January 2015 (and other platforms at a later date), developer Sledgehammer Games has revealed. Exo Zombies' chapters will be overrun with an "entirely new breed" of zombies, the first glimpse of which is shown in the above trailer, a clip that was previously viewable by conquering the Riot stage of Advanced Warfare's Exo Survival mode. Though we don't have an exact launch date for the Havoc DLC just yet, remember that Xbox One players will get the first shot at Havoc, Exo Zombies and the rest of Advanced Warfare's DLC due to Xbox's timed exclusivity deal with Activision. [Image: Activision]
Activision issuing DMCA takedowns on Call of Duty exploit videos
Activision is issuing copyright strikes on YouTube videos that "promote cheating and unfair exploits" within its Call of Duty series, Eurogamer reports. Gaming network Machinima warned its userbase in an e-mailed newsletter this week that videos showcasing glitches in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare are currently being targeted for DMCA takedowns, and affected accounts will receive copyright strikes. YouTube users who earn multiple copyright strikes risk having their accounts permanently disabled. "Activision is being particularly vigilant about their Call of Duty videos lately; issuing strikes on videos showing glitches," Machinima's statement reads. "If you post videos highlighting these glitches, your channel may be liable to receive a copyright strike so please be careful." Activision issued a response to Eurogamer claiming that it intends to curb cheating and unfair play within Advanced Warfare's multiplayer mode. "We're excited that so many fans are having fun playing the game and posting videos of their gameplay," an Activision representative wrote. "We love watching the videos ourselves. Occasionally, some folks post videos that promote cheating and unfair exploits. As always, we keep an eye out for these videos - our level of video claims hasn't changed. We are appreciative of the community's support in helping to ensure that everyone has the best playing experience possible." [Image: Activision]
Call of Duty franchise tops $10 billion in sales, Advanced Warfare biggest digital console launch
Activision announced this morning that Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is the "biggest entertainment launch of the year." Believable, since the overall franchise has reached sales of $10 billion worldwide and making money is what Call of Duty does. Curiously, no Advanced Warfare sales data accompanied this announcement like in prior years. Analysts have speculated the franchise is in decline, but Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg previously deflected this by saying, "Preorders are a good barometer for day one, but I don't think they reflect the overall demand for the product."
CoD: Advanced Warfare sees off big names to retain UK No. 1
It's that time of year when big-name franchises chuck lengthily-titled entries onto shelves, and the games with the longest names prevail. This week, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare kept top spot in the UK charts, holding off the likes of Assassin's Creed: Unity, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor and Fédération Internationale de Football Association 15 - or FIFA 15 for short. While the latest CoD is king of the sea for the second week running, there are interesting details throughout the UK top ten. For example: The split for UK physical sales of Assassin's Creed: Unity was 52 percent PS4, 46 percent Xbox One and 2 percent PC. Halo: The Master Chief Collection notched the biggest UK launch for a first-party Xbox One game. If you include all publishers i.e. all Xbox One games, it came in 7th. Minecraft Vita hit British retail shelves and scored the third biggest launch for any game on the portable, only behind Uncharted: Golden Abyss and FIFA Football. You'll find more on this week's UK charts below the break, including the top ten and the oft-ignored but stubbornly customary music video
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]
