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PSA: Call of Duty Elite beta invites rolling out
Listen up, recruits! If you signed up for Operation Call of Duty Elite Beta, keep an eye out for a dispatch from Activision HQ. The top brass has informed us that beta invites are beginning to be sent now. "The beta will be activated in phases for feature testing, with limited invitations rolling out in the coming weeks," the classified document reads. These Call of Duty Elite beta invites only extend to Xbox 360 users playing Call of Duty: Black Ops right now, but will support all future franchise titles, starting with the launch of Modern Warfare 3 on November 8. The PS3 release of this beta was held back by the PSN outage, according to the FAQ. According to Activision, over 2.8 million have signed up for the beta, so if you have yet to receive your beta invite, exercise patience. For more information on Call of Duty Elite, be sure to check out our preview of the service and interview with Activision's VP of Digital, Jamie Berger.
Call of Duty XP reveals ticket sale timing, event map
We knew tickets for the Call of Duty XP 2011 gathering in L.A. would go on sale July 19th, but for fans who spend hours tweaking which sight works best on their assault rifle, that level of specificity just isn't enough. Activision has announced that the $150 tickets (good for both Sept. 2 and 3) will go on sale at 1 p.m. EDT sharp on the event's official site. The XP homebase has also been updated with some more information about the $1 million on-site CoD tournament and a full map of the event. Do us a favor, though: If you immediately start scanning the floor plan for the best sniping spots and choke points, maybe just, you know, stay home. Just to be safe.
Modern Warfare 3 being tested for glitches and 'sploits by glitchers, 'sploiters
"mapMonkeys are a community of gamers who have become infatuated with discovering and sharing glitches, exploits, tricks, and strategies found in the video games they play." And now, that very same community is putting its prodigious abilities to use ... at Infinity Ward? "Four members of mapMonkeys are being flown out to California on Sunday, July 10th, to test Modern Warfare 3," founder Rezzo wrote on the mapMonkeys forum. "The mapMonkeys are correct," Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling told CVG. "They're out at the studio to help us run Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer through its paces." While the 'Monkeys had previously lent their talents to World at War and Modern Warfare 2 -- two Call of Duty games that still suffered from a fair amount of glitches and 'sploits -- this time is different. Rezzo said, "We've been flown out to test other games in the past [...] but we only had 2 or 3 days to test the game and find glitches, which wasn't nearly enough time." This go-round, they'll have an entire week to ... un-glitch and, uh ... de-exploit the game. While we love seeing this kind of preemptive planning, the cynics in us have already preemptively stopped playing Modern Warfare 3 because of all the future-glitches and neo-hacks! Can the mapMonkeys do the impossible, reach directly into our shared futures and de-hack the game? And if so, think they'd pick us up an iPhone 5 while they're over there?
Call of Duty XP invites Australia to start qualifying rounds for $1 million tourney
The Call of Duty XP Event is set to be the gala of the year for fans worldwide, with an international Black Ops tournament worth $1 million and the chance to play Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer two months early -- and Australia has snagged the first invitation. Australia's qualifying rounds for the million-dollar Black Ops tournament will be on July 13 at Monash University, with 32 teams of four players. The brackets will comprise four rounds of Search and Destroy on Summit and Havana, with winners advancing and losers weeping silently into their AK-47s. Killstreaks will be turned off, friendly fire will be turned on and custom classes will be made with a selection of pre-determined weapons, as listed on Level3. The Call of Duty XP Event will run September 2-3 in Los Angeles, and more international qualifying rounds are expected to be announced soon.
Modern Warfare 3 will feature color blind assist option
Good news, eight percent of men and 0.5 percent of women suffering from color blindness: You may not be our first choice when we have to pick out drapes that match the bedspread in the guest room, but you won't have to worry about shooting the wrong dudes in Modern Warfare 3. In a recent blog post, Sledgehammer Games confirmed that its Infinity Ward collaboration would have a mode for those with difficulty discerning between red and green hues. We submit that "shoot everyone who doesn't speak English" continues to be a sound Call of Duty campaign strategy for color-blind participants, but it's nice to see Sledgehammer putting in the effort.
Call of Duty XP 2011, a two-day event for CoD fans, with proceeds going to charity
A smaller portfolio isn't the only thing Activision Publishing is cribbing from its sister company, Blizzard. A major component of supporting massive brands like Call of Duty (and World of Warcraft and StarCraft) is fan service and Activision is ready to take its support of the heretofore nebulous Call of Duty community to the next level with Call of Duty XP 2011, a two-day gathering promising "total Call of Duty immersion" at a "secure 12-acre compound in the urban confines of Los Angeles." Earlier this week, we had a chance to speak with Eric Hirshberg, Activision Publishing CEO, about the announcement. "Call of Duty XP is going to be the ultimate fan experience for Call of Duty fans. A two day, immersive live event for fans of Call of Duty," Hirshberg told Joystiq. "We think it's going to set a new bar for experiential live fan-based events." That experience includes a first look at the multiplayer component of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, the "full feature functionality" of the still opaque Call of Duty Elite online service, a $1 million CoD tournament sponsored by Activision and "lead sponsor" Xbox 360, and a handful of other big ticket opportunities. "We are constructing a full-scale replica of one of our multiplayer maps as a paintball stadium for fans," Hirshberg said. "We're reconstructing the legendary level from Modern Warfare 2, The Pit, which fans can actually run." More interested in what you're going to be able to eat at an all-Call of Duty event? "You'll be able to eat at Burger Town from Modern Warfare 2," Hirshberg added, quite seriously.
Sledgehammer's action-adventure Call of Duty isn't dead yet
Sledgehammer Games is currently hard at work on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, in conjunction with Infinity Ward. But what of the game Sledgehammer was originally supposed to have been working on, the one meant to "extend the franchise into the action-adventure genre?" Well, Sledgehammer isn't working on it now, but it may put its momentum back into that project following MW3, if Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg's feelings are any indication. "Right now Sledgehammer's 100% focused on Modern Warfare 3," Hirshberg told IndustryGamers. "We haven't announced the future slate or future plans for the studio. They were originally working on an extension of the Call of Duty franchise into an action/adventure genre and that's a game I still want to play." His personal interest in playing it may not be enough to get Sledgehammer focused 100 percent on the action-adventure project, however; when asked if the genre change was a good idea, Hirshberg said only that "it remains to be seen."
Time Magazine defends Modern Warfare 3's faux cover
Some of you are young gentlemen, right? Of course you are. And like any young gentleman, you're a savvy newsreader, so you likely turn to Newsweek or The Nation for political analysis. We understand, Time Magazine just isn't for you since it started catering to older readers -- that's fair. But Time wants to win you over, and it's hoping that its promo tie-in with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will help in that battle. "This is where the boys are," Time publisher Kim Kelleher told the New York Times, adding, "This is a great way to connect with millions of people we might not have otherwise connected with." According to the piece, both Time's editors and executives agreed to allow the use of the magazine's iconic cover wrapper after realizing that the pre-order bonus would be seen by many millions of Time's most elusive demographic -- young American males. If that justification weren't enough for your journalistic sensibilities, managing editor Richard Stengel adds that the faux use of the cover for this promotion was "a similar idea in a different medium," comparing it to the various "Person of the Year" covers for fictional characters or concepts. He also points out that the medium involved in this case -- video games -- is part of "one of the biggest entertainment franchises of all time." Now that was a necessary detail, Mr. Stengel!
Modern Warfare 3 preview: Spec Ops Survival mode
Neither the single-player nor multiplayer modes of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 are playable at this year's E3, but Activision is running a demo for a brand new version of co-op that Infinity Ward is calling Spec Ops Survival. I say Infinity Ward is calling it that (and they are, because that's its name), but given that this is multiplayer, it was probably developed in conjunction with Sledgehammer Games and/or Raven Software. Activision wasn't completely clear on just how the co-development work is being divvied up, so we're not sure who to credit for it. Whoever made it, Spec Ops Survival is a brand new mode for co-op in the Modern Warfare series. I was told that Spec Ops missions are still available (though those weren't being shown off at all), but Survival is a new mode that can be played on any of the maps being used for actual multiplayer. The map used in the demo was called Dome, and after a quick breakdown of the mechanics (it's Horde, basically -- waves of enemies show up on the map, and you and a partner have to take them out) my Activision cohort and I went to work. %Gallery-124479%
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.
Call of Duty Elite Q&A: We ask Activision to clear up some of the confusion
This week's reveal of Call of Duty Elite left us – and you, if the comments are any indication – with more questions than answers. So we rounded up Activision VP of Digital Jamie Berger to answer some of the more common questions. For his part, Berger wasn't shy about acknowledging that confusion. "There's just going to be confusion," he told me over the phone. "There's just so much we're trying to lay out in front of people at one time. So not at all surprised that we either weren't clear on some points or people were confused." The biggest point of confusion was undoubtedly the free aspects of the service, so let's start there: What's free in Call of Duty Elite? "The whole Career section," Berger tells me. "All of your stats, the personalized leadersboards, the heatmaps, the weapon stats, the ability to import your Facebook friends ... personal best, ability to compare, etc." This section bears the most resemblance to other offerings in the space, notably Bungie.net, as many of you mentioned. And like the core Bungie.net service, this section of Elite will remain free, including new features that are added to it. Sounds un-innovative you say? Berger says it's up to the team at Beachhead to push for "innovation, even in things that have been well established like a heatmap or a leaderboard, where we know there's room for improvement." The Career features will be front and center in the beta this summer, so interested parties will have plenty of opportunities to tell Beachhead how innovative they are.%Gallery-124696%
Call of Duty Elite enlisting 'Hollywood talent' to create web TV series
The Call of Duty Elite news train keeps on keeping on, with UK paper the Guardian reporting that a premium membership will include "exclusive access" to a Call of Duty-themed web TV series. "We have engaged some top Hollywood talent to create linear video content that will be exclusive to Elite members," Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg tells the Guardian. "That content is inspired by Call of Duty." With Elite intended to maintain, or even increase, interest in the Call of Duty brand between its annual releases, some linear video programming could certainly help bridge that gap and keep subscribers coming back to Elite. "If you're a sports fan, there are lots of ways for you to connect with that hobby, that passion, not just on the day that the games are played, but throughout the week, and we wanted to give [Call of Duty players] real entertainment value," Hirshberg says. And that's about all we have in the way of details. No word on whether the Hollywood talent Activision's procured will create live action, ala Find Makarov, animated, ala Halo Legends, or machinima content, ala John Hillcoat's excellent Red Dead Redemption short. Hirshberg says, "We're not going to give much more detail until we have something to show. That'll be later in the year."
Rumor: MW3 gets Team Perks, new killstreaks, loses Tactical Nuke
[Update: Infinity Ward's @fourzerotwo took to Twitter to say, "Lots of false #MW3 info being reported as fact. There is no Stopping Power, OMA, Commando, or Nukes. Beyond that, you'll have to wait & see." The below rumor does say no Nukes, never mentions One Man Army or Commando, and the Stopping Power they do mention is specifically a new "Team Perk" variant.] Kotaku's Modern Warfare 3-leaking mole is back, dropping deets on the game's multiplayer offerings. Before we get into the meat of things, it's worth pointing out that, according to this report, a Zombies mode will not make an appearance in MW3; the Treyarch-developed mode has so far only appeared in its own Call of Duty offerings and that trend will continue. More importantly for the game's dedicated multiplayer ... err, players, comes the first rumors of the game's killstreaks and perks, both of which are reported to be getting tweaked by co-devs Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games. Most MW2 players will be happy to learn that the Tactical Nuke killstreak that rewarded 25 consecutive kills with oblivion (and the end of the match) has been nuked. New killstreaks include a remote-controlled helicopter, a remote turret, an EMP grenade, and more. The most notable scuttlebutt is the addition of "Team Perks," which are – as you no doubt have already deduced – perks that your entire team works to unlock. It's unclear what defines a "team" but we imagine this is something that Elite will help coordinate. Rumored team perks include Stopping Power, which dishes out increased bullet damage; Stun Protection, which prevents your team from being stunned by flash grenades; Health Regen, which regenerates your team's health over time; and Blast Shield, which isn't clear. New non-team perks for MW3 include Blind Eye, which makes you "immune to computer-controlled and player-controlled killstreaks"; Assassin makes you "immune to UAV, thermal, and heartbeat sensors"; Point Guard, which counts every two assists as a kill, helping less lethal players still earn killstreaks; Dead Silence, which makes you dead silent (duh); and Recon, which is still unclear. Lastly, if you're hoping for dedicated servers, you may want to sit down: looks like they're still out, as they were in MW2. Last year's Black Ops did support dedicated servers, albeit in a limited capacity, so it's not clear if MW3 is rolling back to Infinity Ward's previous offering, or adopting something closer to what Treyarch used.
Call of Duty Elite preview: Building a better mousetrap
"There's been a lot of speculation and we'll continue to say this: We do not and will not charge for multiplayer." While Jamie Berger, VP of Digital at Activision, saved that commitment for the end of the nearly 30-minute reveal of Call of Duty Elite, we thought we'd get it out of the way first because, like Mr. Berger said, there has been a lot of speculation. And in the interest of elucidation, we'll get another of Mr. Berger's comments out of the way: "When it launches in the fall, Elite is going to offer a premium membership." So if Call of Duty Elite isn't some kind of "Online Pass" to play Call of Duty with your friends, then what is it and what will a premium membership include? We'll get back to the issue of cost later but, before we do, it's important to walk you through just what the team at Beachhead is trying to do with Elite. To hear them say it, Elite is nothing less than "Activision getting in front of our players and leading them into the future of connected entertainment."%Gallery-124696%
Call of Duty Elite is the paid 'digital platform' from Beachhead Studios, built for MW3 [Update: Now with video!]
[Note: Our preview of the Call of Duty Elite service is live here!] Hours ahead of the agreed-upon embargo for the news, the Wall Street Journal is the first to report on Call of Duty Elite, the long-reported "digital platform" in development at Activision's new Beachhead studio. Designed to complement this fall's Modern Warfare 3, Elite will be a paid service though "portions of the service will be free" including a Facebook-inspired Groups feature. Other features of the service include the Bungie.net-like ability to display stats to analyze player performance, "gauging factors such as which weapons have been most successful for them in killing enemies." If you're worried that you'll suddenly have to pay for online multiplayer in Call of Duty titles, don't be. The Journal reports that "players will still be able to compete against each other online without subscribing to the service." Activision hasn't yet pinned down a price point, though it does expect the cost to be less than comparable "online-entertainment services" like the $8/month Netflix. Part of that fee will go towards a "customer-service operation that will be needed to support it." It will also include the year's map packs, which cost $15 each, taking some of the sting out of any annual charge. [Update: The trailer detailing the entire service has been leaked on YouTube – hat tip @CheapyD – ahead of tomorrow morning's 9am embargo; if the WSJ article left you with some questions, try the video after the break. Still have questions? We'll do our best to answer everything tomorrow morning! Update 2: Looks like Activision pulled the original YouTube trailer but, now that the embargo's up, we added our own version after the break. Click away!]
Modern Warfare 3 preview: Two heads are better than one
After a two-minute recap montage of everything that's happened thus far in the narratively impenetrable Modern Warfare saga -- wow, I barely remembered any of that! -- two people took the stage. On the left side, standing in front of a giant Infinity Ward logo was Robert Bowling, "creative strategist" at the troubled developer and, obviously, not one of the studio's now-fired founders. On the right side, standing in front of a giant Sledgehammer Games logo, was Glen Schofield, head of the newly formed studio that was originally slated to "extend the franchise into the action-adventure genre." Now, they were both on stage flanking an even larger Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 logo. "For the last year we've been working together with Infinity Ward to deliver Modern Warfare 3," Schofield told the crowd in Los Angeles last week, forcing every games journalist there to wonder how things were going before Sledgehammer pitched in. "We came out of Modern Warfare 2 with a very strong vision of what we wanted for Modern Warfare 3," Bowling chimed in. "Things we wanted to add, things we wanted to polish, the payoff we wanted to deliver to our fans who've invested come November 8, 2011. Luckily, in the execution of that, we were looking for a team that had the same passion for the franchise, the creative skillset we could turn to, and we found that in the entire studio of Sledgehammer Games." And that was all they had to say about the unusual circumstances that led to both men presenting what is arguably the highest-profile release of the year on stage with each other. "Like Infinity Ward, we believe the game should do the talking," Schofield said, effectively ending that portion of the presentation.%Gallery-124479%
Modern Warfare 3 gameplay trailer arrives, reveals November 8 launch date
A new trailer for Modern Warfare 3 has surfaced, showing not only a war-torn United States, but a war-torn world -- oh, and a launch date: November 8, 2011. Why are you still reading? Jump past the break to complete your first recon op for gameplay footage!
Modern Warfare 3 premiere event set for May 23
We don't know about you, but we've just about had it with these mysterious viral campaigns. Take this, for example: A post on the Modern Warfare 3 Facebook page announces the game's world premiere is set for May 23 during "game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on ESPN." The last conference meeting in the west? That sounds rather ominous. What is that code for? And why game 4? We thought they're showing off Modern Warfare 3? Where is ESPN, anyway? Is that short for España or something? Please, Activision, we want to see your game -- just tell us how! As it stands, we're headed to the western part of Spain and looking for signs of dudes playing games together for the fourth and final time. Wish us luck. [Thanks, H-F]
The Modern Warfare 3 leak, from Activision's perspective
"Friday was a really interesting, a really kind of cool day," said Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg, as he reflected on last week's massive Modern War 3 leak and the company's response. "Cool" was a word I was not expecting out of the man in charge of shepherding an enormous marketing campaign that had just been knocked off of its horse. "No one wakes up and thinks, 'I hope there's been a leak and our timing gets all messed up,'" Hirshberg mused as he and I discussed the incident this week at a meeting at Activision HQ, but "if members of the government and the military aren't safe from this stuff, it's a part of our world now." "And while it's definitely not cool to steal other people's intellectual property, and while it's definitely not cool to leak stuff that's not yours, there are ways that you can respond that actually turn the lemons into lemonade," he added. "And that's what we tried to do on Friday."
Modern Warfare 3 poster offered with early GameStop pre-orders
GameStop has started the pre-order cycle on Modern Warfare 3, with a poster being the hook to get you in the store and invest. The company sent an email to PowerUp Rewards members yesterday saying that it won't publicly announce -- cause, see, you and the other millions of GameStop card holders are special -- the promotion until Friday, May 20, but it is offering a two-sided poster if you come in now. Your pre-order poster is the standard Modern Warfare 3 art on one side and the other is blurred out in the promotion. However, a kindly tipster sent us what is apparently a picture of the encrypted promotion, depicting a fake TIME magazine cover. The poster is only available in store and quantities are limited. Check out what seems to be on the other side of the poster, after the break. [Thanks, Anthony]
