modern-warfare-3
Latest
Modern Warfare 3 maintains top of UK charts for third week
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 isn't going anywhere on the UK charts, as the biggest entertainment launch in history holds its position at the top, despite a 41 percent drop in sales. MW3 had an 87 percent drop in sales last week, so the über-blockbuster clearly has a sales cushion to play around. Assassin's Creed: Revelations maintained second, with Saints Row: The Third and Skyrim swapping spots at third and fourth, respectively. FIFA 12 also held strong in fifth as WWE '12 muscled in with a debut at sixth. Some good news for Nintendo, as Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call premiered in seventh and Super Mario 3D Land slipped one little spot to tenth. The bad news? The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the first major Zelda console release in five years, dropped from its debut in seventh to 19. The UK top ten can be found after the break.
Modern Warfare 3 tops Japanese charts, Saints Row: The Third debuts at number 5
It's got the rooster, it's got the crow, Modern Warfare 3 is big in Japan. For the week of November 14, according to Media Create, the PS3 version of Activision's latest blockbuster topped the charts at number one with over 180,000 units sold. The Xbox version, incidentally, is in the seventh spot with over 30,000 copies sold. Meanwhile, Super Mario 3D Land has slipped from the top spot to number four, with over 62,000 copies sold. Perhaps the most surprising of all, however, is that the PS3 version of Saints Row: The Third managed to debut at number five with over 36,000 copies sold. As good as Saints Row: The Third is, we can't help but think Professor Genki had something to do with its success.
A Thanksgiving weekend close-up for Call of Duty Elite's second take
When we last spoke with Call of Duty VP of Production Daniel Suarez two weeks ago, just after the record-breaking launch of Modern Warfare 3, things weren't going so well. Sure, MW3 sold 6.5 million units in a single day, but Activision's high-profile Call of Duty Elite service fell squarely on its face. Now, two weeks later, Elite is operational and Suarez says Activision is confident the service can withstand not only the Thanksgiving holiday but a potential post-Black Friday surge. "It was a lot of hard work from where we were two weeks ago, which was an embarassing place," Suarez confessed. "And now we're at a place where we're confidant people will be able to enjoy the service." And while Elite is operational or, as Suarez put it, "up on its feet," the team continues to push out new builds almost daily. "We still have some bugs and some kinks to work out," he said. "We've been pushing out fixes everyday to address people on Twitter" and elsewhere.
Activision hits 4 million Elite subscribers, adjusts MW3 player numbers
While Activision scrambles to repair Call of Duty Elite, it seems more and more users are piling onto the beleaguered service. The company today announced that the service managed to acquire four million registrations in its first six days of (sort of) operation. What's more, one million of those are paid memberships, leading us to ponder how much $49.99 times 1 million is. Our math skills are rusty, but we're fairly certain the number is pretty big. Furthermore, Activision also revealed that the service has seen more than one million daily logins, and users have already created over 80,000 clans and uploaded more than 100,000 videos. In other news, Activision issued a correction on Modern Warfare 3's day one player numbers. The company previously announced that the FPS juggernaut pulled in 3.3 million simultaneous players on launch day, November 8. Turns out the real number is under half of that at 1.4 million. There were, however, 3.3 million unique games played on launch day. That's still pretty good, we suppose.
Modern Warfare 3 player ups the ante on ridiculous knife kills
We have a full-on tradition on our hands. Now that the latest Call of Duty game has released, it's only fitting that a ridiculous knife trick-shot video surface on the world wide internet. And this one has set the bar so high, we're not even sure it's part of Earth's atmosphere any more.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 bans affect 1,600+ users
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 isn't a safe place for anyone on the business end of a sniper shot or cheats. MW3 community czar Robert Bowling recently announced on Twitter that Activision issued over 1,600 bans and reiterated "any attempt to cheat, hack, or glitch in [Modern Warfare 3] will not be tolerated." "Reporting [cheaters] in-game through [Modern Warfare 3] goes directly to our security team, who issues the bans directly after verifying," Bowling noted. "Every ban unique to the level of douchiness of the offense. The greater the douche, the greater the length. PermaDouche possible." We appreciate the effort Activision apparently goes through to keep each ban fresh and clean. Last week, Battlefield 3 went through a similar cleansing.
Modern Warfare 3 fights off Assassin's Creed: Revelations atop UK charts
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 had the biggest entertainment launch in history, so even with an 87 percent drop in unit sales last week, it's little surprise the shooter maintained its alpha position on the UK sales chart for its second week on retail shelves. Assassin's Creed: Revelations debuted in second, with the strongest opening yet for the franchise. Unit sales and revenue were up four and eight percent, respectively, from last year's Brotherhood launch. Not only was the latest Assassin adventure the strongest opening stab by the franchise to date, it was also the strongest premiere of any Ubisoft title. Skyrim slips from second to third, with Saints Row: The Third entering in fourth. The latest Saints Row crime spree is another strong sequel, with sales up 43 percent from Saints Row 2's launch three years ago. Last week also saw a slew of prominent premieres from Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Super Mario 3D Land. Check out the UK top ten after the break.
Activision: Call of Duty Elite to be up and running by Dec. 1
While it's been a rocky start for Activision's Call of Duty Elite service, it would appear that there is finally light at the end of the tunnel. Speaking with G4, Activision's VP of production, Daniel Suarez, said that the current goal is to have Elite online for everyone by December 1. "They kind of have to bear with us while we bring this all back up, but for us it's literally 'Give us those couple weeks, we're giving those to you for free and come December 1 the goal is that we'll have everything up and running,'" Suarez said. Activision's previous effort to quell concerns of subscribers included a free extra month of subscription to the service, while Beachhead currently works to get Elite, well, working. And while Beachhead monitored the beta for months, admittedly it couldn't foresee just how many users would sign up. But hey, we finally have some kind of promised timeline for full functionality. Let's just hope Beachhead and Activision can honor that promise.
GameStop moves 600K Call of Duty Elite subscriptions, a 'top 10 launch' this year
Wondering how Call of Duty Elite is doing? Well, stability-wise it's still a touch-and-go mess. But sales wise, you could call it a "hit." During an earnings call today, GameStop prez Tony Bartel said, "In the case of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, we worked closely with Activision, Sony and Microsoft to pre-order and deliver nearly 600,000 instances of the Modern Warfare Elite DLC to date." So a single retailer delivered 600,000 paying subscribers to Call of Duty Elite, on the back of 6.5 million day one purchases across all retailers. That sounds significant, right? Bartel says, "This places the launch of Elite as one of our top 10 launches of the year so far." We followed up with GameStop for some additional color, and were told Call of Duty Elite "is the most successful DLC launch of all time," for the retailer. Still think Elite was a bad idea? [Image credit: bfads.net]
Activision: Modern Warfare 3 sales reach $775 million in five days
Right on schedule, Activision announced today that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has broken five-day sales records for any movie, book or video game that has come before. MW3 grossed over $775 million worldwide, beating last year's $650 million record set by Call of Duty: Black Ops and the $550 million by Modern Warfare 2 a couple years back. The game also broke Xbox Live records, with 3.3 million concurrent users on November 8, up from the 2.6 million by Black Ops. Last week, the company announced day-one sales of MW3 reached 6.5 million units in the US and UK, for a cool $400 million in 24 hours. Think they'll make another one?
Vivendi sells $427 million in Activision Blizzard stock
French media conglomerate Vivendi, majority owner of Activision Blizzard, sold three percent of its stock in the publishing giant, valued at around $427 million. It now owns 60 percent. The reduction of ownership in the company that, thanks to a little game called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, just had the largest entertainment launch of all time, came as a surprise. As the Financial Times reports, the prevailing theory is that Vivendi's $1.9 billion acquisition of EMI's music business last week required the company to create some quick cash to stay sexy on paper. "The wisdom of selling about three percent in a business that is one of the key bastions of growth for the group to aid a transformational acquisition in a challenged business, such as recorded music, seems questionable," Claudio Aspesi of Bernstein Research told the Financial Times. "This is a tactical disposal with regards to our overall capital structure, and we remain committed to Activision and to being the main shareholder," a Vivendi spokesman told Reuters. The company is gonna have to be if it wants to keep siphoning assets for its portfolio from a shrinking industry.
Amazon: Buy One, Get One 50% Off on MW3, Skyrim, Arkham City, Uncharted 3, and more
Amazon calls this deal "Buy One, Get One 50% Off" but we prefer to think of it as "Get Two $60 Games for Just $45 Each." Normally, these kinds of deals have perhaps one marquee title playing the role of siren, calling your wallet-shaped ship to its rocky, mediocre-game covered shores; however, this deal is different. Blockbuster titles like Modern Warfare 3, Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City, Uncharted 3, Rage, and more are available choices, with some junk like The Black Eyed Peas Experience and Go Vacation, just to keep us on our toes. With this many options, we're more inclined to think of it as a "Buy Three, Get One Free" deal. This offer is good for a "limited time," which we think means "not long."
Modern Warfare 3 nukes UK charts, many seek refuge in Skyrim
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, the game that sold 6.5 million copies on its first day, couldn't help but be at the top of the UK charts last week (filed under: duh!). In the region, MW3 had sales that put it on even footing with last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops in terms of units sold, but it grossed more revenue in its opening weekend than the prior entry. It's not all modern warfare -- there's also plenty of the fantastic, medieval variety going on. Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim placed second, but merely because it launched in the shadow of MW3. Skyrim sold twice as many units as Fallout: New Vegas, the publisher's previous largest launch. Skyrim also became the fifth largest launch of the year, follwing MW3, FIFA 12, Battlefield 3 and slightly behind Gears of War 3. Find the UK top ten after the break.
How Beachhead is putting Call of Duty: Elite back together again
With Call of Duty Elite still struggling to serve its much-touted blend of stats and features to the throng of Modern Warfare 3 consumers, we asked Call of Duty VP of Production Daniel Suarez to explain the outage, what Activision and Beachhead Studios are doing to fix it, and when we might finally be able to see what Elite is all about. After months of hype, confusion, controversy, and promises, the ambitious web service has failed to launch and, in so doing, has failed to silence the skeptics. It didn't take long to realize Elite wouldn't hold up to the traffic. Beachhead Studios chief Chacko Sonny posted a notice on the Call of Duty Elite status page in the early morning hours of launch day, but the game had been in consumers' hands for some time. "It's a worlwide launch for MW3 and Elite, so we had a launch occuring Monday late afternoon with Australia and then everything kicking in into Europe and then into the East Coast in the US and then the West Coast," Suarez recounted. "So the launch of MW3 had been huge and we knew it would be huge, it just translated into a tremendous amount of traffic to Elite. And we anticipated it to be big, it just turned out to be even bigger than that." The problems began at the earliest stage of the process: registration. "The high demand from the console application and registration on the website from the PC really crippled the registration and login process which then translated into the backend servers being slammed," Suarez explained. "So we've been working around the clock to alleviate access into the system and we've had a large number of people now able to register. We've resolved that piece of it and now we're actually working on getting the service back up and running to a point where poeple can then enjoy it."
Activision donates $3 million to Call of Duty Endowment
We suppose when your latest product launches to the tune of $400 million in a single day, you can afford to be generous. Tucked away in the press release announcing the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launch day sales numbers, Activision also revealed its latest donation to the Call of Duty Endowment, which is devoted to assisting various veterans organizations. The company donated $3 million to the endowment, noting that it has previously donated $2 million and that the endowment has "provided more than $1.5 million in grants and scholarships to veterans' organizations across the country" since it was founded in 2009.
Modern Warfare 3 sells 6.5M in biggest day-one ever
We all need some extra cash in the holiday season, and if you're looking for someone to hit up for a loan, we'd recommend your rich Uncle Activision. The company just announced Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 sold 6.5 million units in the US and UK on its first day, good for $400 million. To put it in perspective, that's the biggest day-one for any entertainment product ever in history. This tops previous records set by Modern Warfare 2: a paltry $310 million and Black Ops, estimated to have made $360 million in its first day. Of course, analysts had pre-orders pegged at roughly 9 million, so you know what that means to Battlefield 3 fans. Yes, Modern Warfare 3 is a huge disappointment falling well short of expectations. See, internet? Everybody wins!
Call of Duty Elite still 'intermittent,' annual memberships bumped to 13 months
While Modern Warfare 3 appears to be continuing the trend of stable, successful Call of Duty multiplayer launches, the much-ballyhooed Call of Duty Elite service hasn't fared so well. Despite a beta and a solid indication of the platform's requirements, Elite has been down since launch day. While Activision and Beachhead Studios continue to toil away on the problem, they've added another update to the CoD Elite status page letting eager gamers know what's what. "And for our premium members who are Founders, know that granting your status and delivering your in-game benefits in MW3 is a priority," the statement reads, addressing the early paid adopters of Elite. "Also, to ensure that every premium member receives their full money's worth, we are immediately and automatically extending your membership to Call of Duty Elite by 30 days at no additional cost." So that means your one-year membership is now a thirteen-month membership. But what if you haven't bought Elite yet? "If you're still considering becoming a premium member, we're going to extend Founder eligibility until the end of the month," the statement continues, "and you will also receive the additional 30 days of access." So that's thirteen months of Elite and a one-month extension on Founder eligibility. A decent enough consolation package for premium members, but the free users will have to simply wait for Elite to get back online before they can start tweaking their loadouts from work. Stay tuned for an interview with Activision on what's happening with Call of Duty Elite.
Metareview: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
We said that "Modern Warfare 3 is a great Call of Duty game, just as every other entry in the franchise is a great Call of Duty game." It's not perfect, but it's the best at what it does... and what it does best is make a whole ton of money. Here's what others had to say: OXM (95/100): "Sure, we can come up with a list of things we'd love to see from the series - whether it's a revamped campaign approach or a revitalized game engine and aesthetic - but when everything here is this well-executed and offers so many enduring thrills, it's hard to knock it too much. MW3 absolutely delivers." Game Trailers (93/100): "As attention spans dissipate, games like this strike the sweet spot of time spent versus reward gained. Yet there's also an extremely deep multiplayer experience where the changes seem minimal but pack a big punch. If you're expecting a huge departure from what's come before you'll be disappointed, but fans will get exactly what they're looking for. World War III shouldn't be this fun." Gamespot (85/100): "Whatever diversions or innovations may lie in Modern Warfare 3's future, the competitive multiplayer still offers the same sweet satisfaction you've come to expect from the series. This is some of the best online shooter action around, and with the daunting challenges of Spec Ops and the exciting, globe-trotting campaign, Modern Warfare 3 stands tall as another great descendant of the game that changed a generation. " Eurogamer (80/100): "Whatever next year's entry brings, some measure of reinvention will be essential. For now, its exuberant blend of testicular bravado and blockbuster gloss ensures that Call of Duty retains its crown as the shooter genre's biggest, boldest rollercoaster ride for at least one more year."%Gallery-138663%
All of Modern Warfare 3's intel already catalogued
You haven't found all the intel in Modern Warfare 3 yet? What's the holdup? The game has been out for, like, hours. WikiGameGuides has the locations of all 46, available in both video and text form. In case you're slow to conclusions as well, we'll warn you that there are spoilers here.
Modern Warfare 3 pre-orders near 9 million, analyst says
According to Lazard Capital Markets' Atul Bagga, as reported by GameSpot, pre-orders for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 were nearly three times that of Battlefield 3, which pegs Activision's shooter at around 9 million pre-orders. The estimate puts Modern Warfare 3 pre-orders roughly 70 percent ahead of those for Modern Warfare 2 and 55 percent beyond Call of Duty: Black Ops. Furthermore, the analyst expects Modern Warfare 3 to move a full 20 million copies by the end of the year. Those aren't exactly outlandish estimates, given the success of the franchise. Perhaps a more interesting study would be to gauge how many people are skipping work to play. Frankly, with Skyrim launching later this week, we fear worldwide productivity will flatline forever.
