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PSA: Modern Warfare 3 'Overwatch' out today [update]
Activision is dropping the next Call of Duty Elite content pack for Modern Warfare 3 in Overwatch, a rooftop map for the game's multiplayer component. If you'd like to take a peek at that map, we've dropped the latest trailer just above. The Overwatch DLC map for MW3 is exclusive to 360 for a limited time.%Gallery-146713%
Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer free on Steam this weekend
Did you know the weekend technically starts now? According to Steam it does, anyway. Don't even bother showing up to work tomorrow.Steam users will have access to Modern Warfare 3's full multiplayer suite of modes starting right now. All you have to do is install the game and you can play as much multiplayer as you want until Monday -- unless you want to buy the game, of course.
Modern Warfare 3's 'Overwatch' map DLC kills you before you fall 70 stories
We're just gonna tell you up front: you're gonna wanna skip to about 50 seconds into this trailer before you see any gameplay featuring Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's "Overwatch" map in action. And you're gonna want to do that, as the first part is just Rob Riggle talking total nonsense. But the map part? Aces.
Call of Duty Elite pulls in 7 million users, 1.5 million paid memberships
Call of Duty Elite, the community portal for Activision's perennial shooter is apparently doing gangbusters, according to the publisher's 2011 earnings report. The report states that Elite has pulled in over 7 million members as of January 31.Even more impressive: over 1.5 million of those are premium subscriptions, available as part of the $100 Hardened Edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 or as a separate $50 purchase. Paid membership grants a few benefits, most notably a free pass and early access to Modern Warfare 3 DLC.We'd say the service probably qualifies as a success at this point, at least from Activision's perspective.
PSA: Premium Call of Duty Elite DLC now available for MW3 on Xbox Live
That Call of Duty Elite membership will finally start paying for itself today, as a pair of new Modern Warfare 3 maps are now available to premium members (non-paying members will have to wait). Specifically, Xbox users with a paid subscription to Elite can snag "Liberation" and "Piazza." In order to do so, simply select the "Download Elite Content" from within the in-game store (found in the multiplayer menu). The Elite website notes that both maps must be downloaded or players will encounter an error during matchmaking.PS3 Elite premium members will receive the DLC at a later date. The PC version, which does not currently feature Call of Duty Elite, will presumably receive the DLC later as well.%Gallery-143685%
Tour the killing fields of Modern Warfare 3's first DLC with latest media
You've been shooting dudes for nearly three months since Modern Warfare 3's early November launch, but that Elite pass has yet to offer more than a chance to watch your buddy Tim's lame gameplay clips. That's all about to change! The first DLC is nearly upon us, and here is your first tour.
Five Modern Warfare 3 DLC drops planned for next three months, 20 total over next nine months
On January 24, this year's Call of Duty DLC season kicks off on Xbox Live with other platforms to follow. Elite subscribers on Xbox 360 will have first access the new content as part of their paid membership. Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling confirmed with Joystiq the content schedule for Modern Warfare 3 and it's unsurprisingly extensive. Following the first multiplayer maps later this month ("Liberation" and "Piazza"), the plan is to offer five total DLC packages over the course of the next three months. Within the next nine months, up to September, there should be a total of 20 pieces of downloadable content available to players. A "Content Collection" in March will bundle the previously released DLC on Xbox Live for non-Elite users. "The first pack is traditional multiplayer maps, but we want to do Spec Ops missions, missions, Spec-Ops Survival, new game types, new game modes, and really look at adding things that we've never done before," Bowling said. He said that the focus across all three studios involved -- Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software -- has been to experiment with the formula this time around, to offer players content other than map pack dumps. "We said just do what you think is gonna be good. Do what's fun and, as long is fits in the Modern Warfare universe, try it! Experiment with it, and we'll take the best of the best and start polishing it up and releasing it. So that's really where our focus has been," Bowling concluded.
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%
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!
Massive Modern Warfare 3 leak reveals setting, multiplayer modes, and more
What happens when a large contingency of a series' creative team packs up, and two additional teams are brought on to round out the production? Apparently, you get a lot of loose lips. Details of Modern Warfare 3, in development across Infinity Ward, Raven Software, and newcomer Sledgehammer Games, have been leaked with an unusual amount of specificity to Kotaku less than a month before its presumed big reveal at E3. A lot of that specificity is wasted on spoilers which, in addition to being generally unwanted for those of us who haven't played the game, are about a Call of Duty title meaning they follow multiple characters through multiple elaborate setpieces. Oh, and there's shooting. MW3 begins right where MW2 left off: with the US trying to prevent a Russian invasion. Your roles include a "Russian Federal Protective Services agent, SAS Operative, tank gunner, and AC-130 gunner" as well as some old friends from previous MW games and some new characters, notably "Frost" and "Sandman." About those setpieces! Modern Warfare 3 will reportedly include 15 missions that take place across "a dozen cities around the world including New York, Paris and London." If some of that selection sounds familiar, that's because this fall's Battlefield 3 will find itself in "Paris, Tehran and New York." Awkward. But it's not just Manhattan, it's also Brooklyn, Mogadishu, and more, if the list of 20 multiplayer maps is to be believed. (It's unclear if these include maps from the inevitable DLC map packs.) Spec Ops is back as well, with the mission-based co-operative offerings from Modern Warfare 2 accompanied by a new "Survival" mode or, as you're more likely to know it by, Horde mode. The goal: You and your pals will defend yourselves from increasingly difficult waves of enemies. There are seven "Mission" maps and five "Survival" maps listed. Previous Modern Warfare installments were so shrouded in secrecy, nearly up until the time of release, that it's hard to imagine how such a massive, seemingly coordinated leak took place. Oh, and one last detail: the release date! Kotaku's report pins MW3 for November 8, just a week after Uncharted 3 and a few days before Skyrim. [Update: Infinity Ward's @fourzerotwo just weighed in on the leak, offering, "A lot of hype & a lot of leaked info on #MW3, some still accurate, some not. To avoid spoiling the experience, I'd wait for the real reveal." We wonder how the accurate / not accurate percentages look; regardless, if you want 100% accurate you'll want to hear it straight from the dev. Everyone else, dig in.]
Viral marketing lets slip the dogtags of Modern Warfare 3 [update: Activision comments]
Two years ago, Infinity Ward used the Game Developer's Conference Awards show to unveil the trailer (and date!) for its hugely anticipated followup, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. If we're reading the signals right, it's looking to use the conference for the reveal of the third installment (Modern Warfare 3?), a game that's been shrouded in mystery following the developer's very public (and very ugly!) executive departures. Someone sent over a pair of dog tags, pictured above, that include a link to findmakarov.com, with the totally-a-tag-line "End the War" stamped above it. The site includes a countdown which takes us to 10am ET next Wednesday, March 2. The other dog tag belongs to – gross, a dead guy! – Lt. General Shepherd, MW2's main bad dude, who evidently has a birthdate of ... next Tuesday? Wait, that's not right ... The site's whois information has been anonymized, and we're busy trying to confirm the validity of the tags with Activision. The GDC Awards take place on Wednesday night this year and, glancing at our packed GDC calendar for next week, Tuesday night belongs to EA's competing Battlefield 3. So either Activision wants to steal some of their thunder, or this is a comically elaborate ruse on EA's part. The return address indicates Toronto-based "viral marketers" VVO Media are behind the mailing and, with a slim portfolio, it's tough to say who they're working for. Oh viral marketing, how we grow tired of you. [Update 5:45pm – VVO Media's site is now offline. Go figure.] [Update 8:05pm -- We've received the following comment from an Activision spokesperson: "There seems to be a great deal of speculation about the next Call of Duty project. Let me be clear that we are not revealing yet. Anything indicating otherwise is a hoax." We contacted EA for comment when the story first broke and have yet to receive a response.] %Gallery-117632%
Report: Infinity Ward co-developing Modern Warfare 3 with Sledgehammer Games, Raven Software
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare publisher Activision has repeatedly stated that Infinity Ward is doing fine since heads Vince Zampella and Jason West were ousted from the company early last year. A report on the LA Times' Company Town blog, however, tells a different story -- according to the piece, both Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software have been tasked with helping develop the next, still unannounced Modern Warfare title, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. "People familiar with the situation" claim that Sledgehammer is working with the remaining staff at Infinity Ward on developing the game's single-player campaign, while Singularity developer Raven Software is in charge of bringing up the multiplayer side of things. The sources also contend that, like past Call of Duty titles, MW3 is expected to ship this November. Additionally, Sledgehammer is said to have halted production on its own spinoff Call of Duty title in order to help IW out. Update: Activision issued a comment in response to the LAT piece, stating, "There's been much specultion recently. We look forward to releasing details for the next Call of Duty in the near future."
Activision Publishing CEO says perception of the company is different from reality
As co-CEO at ad company Deutsch LA, Eric Hirshberg was partially responsible for turning the PlayStation 3 from something that freaked us out into a platform for the VP of Awesome. Now, HIrshberg is able to comment on a similar turnaround at Activision. As the CEO of the publishing group, he says that "some of Activision's reputational challenges are not based in the reality of the company that I've experienced here so far. ... What I can tell you is since I've been here there's not a day or an hour that goes by without a conversation or focus on creative excellence in delivering great gaming experiences to our fans. That's what this place is focused on and about." Yes, Activision may have put a "for sale" sign on UK racing studio Bizarre, laid off staff at Neversoft and Radical Entertainment and elsewhere, and weakened studio after studio, but Hirshberg says all the cuts are indicative of just how tough this business can be. And even in a tough business, says Hirshberg, "we do everything we can to make the relationships with our developers work, and to find a commercially viable use of their talents, and it's only when we've exhausted every other opportunity that [shutdowns and layoffs] happen." The video game industry, he says, is "a high stakes game when everyone's trying to get into that upper echelon of performance and there's no middle class," which means, presumably, that Activision has to be judicious when choosing who gets to keep working. That may be true, but Hirshberg's going to need more than that if he wants to turn Bobby Kotick into PlayStation's KB.
Rumor: Raven's Bond game shows up in animator's reel
Rumors started circulating yesterday about the rebirth of a Raven-developed James Bond game. Today, a poster on NeoGAF has unearthed footage that could very well be from that project in the demo reel of Hanjin Song, an animator on Raven's recent sci-fi FPS, Singularity. While the gameplay bears a surface resemblance to Bizarre Creations' just-released James Bond 007: Blood Stone, the screencap above show's a different UI, a new environment and what appears to be a more detailed model of Bond star Daniel Craig. In Song's clip, we see the super spy engaging in some death-defying parkour, sneaking around behind cover and, of course, shooting incompetent minions. We haven't heard back from Activision nor Song -- so don't start pre-ordering just yet -- but if we're not looking at the rumored Raven project, we're having a tough time imagining what else it could be.
Rumor: Raven Software working on stealth-based Bond game, follow-up to Wolverine 'on the backburner'
When it's not busy working on Activision's "largest digital offering ever" or making games with superhuman Nazis, Raven Software is allegedly working on another James Bond title for Activision. Bond fansite MI6 claims that the recently approved bankruptcy plan at MGM has allowed the unannounced Bond title to be "taken off hiatus," and says it's back in production at Raven. Additionally, the report alleges that the Bond title was one of two games being worked on by Raven -- a sequel to 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine is said to also have been in production, though that game is reportedly "on the backburner" currently. Given the recent death sentence handed to James Bond 007: Blood Stone by Activision (did you know that game was released, because it totally was) and the tumultuous story of Bond's 23rd film (said to now be back on track) -- not to mention Raven's ties to the very, very lucrative Call of Duty franchise and a recent thinning of the studio's staff -- we're a bit wary that the supposed stealth Bond will ever see the light of day. Regardless, we are totally, 100 percent confident in our unabashed excitement for the reignited Bond 23 plans.
Report: Raven hit with layoffs, 40 let go
According to a report over on Kotaku, Raven Software has dismissed 40 employees. Activision neglected to respond to the purported number in a supposed statement given to the blog, citing Raven is "realigning its workforce to better reflect the studio's upcoming slate." The developer recently concluded work on Singularity. Kotaku offers that this "realigning" is so that Raven can focus on creating downloadable content -- the studio was reported to be working on DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops back in May. We're currently digging for more and will let you know what we hear back.
Singularity (PS3) on sale for $40 on Amazon today
Who pays $60 for a new game? Not you, because you know about deals like the one Amazon has on Raven Software's time-twisting shooter, Singularity. The PlayStation 3 version is currently on sale for $40.
Ex-Raven dev Manveer Heir joins Bioware Montreal to work on Mass Effect franchise
Manveer Heir isn't just our winner of the coolest name for a game designer ever award, he's also just been hired by BioWare Montreal as a senior level designer for the Mass Effect franchise. Heir stepped down from his lead designer role at Activision-owned Raven Software in mid-June and has been on a mini-hiatus since then, only to announce yesterday -- alongside another big BioWare reveal -- that he would be heading up to Montreal. Heir ... aired his feelings about the change, tweeting, "I'm a big fan of the Mass Effect series, so to get a chance to join the team and help build an amazing game is such a tremendous privilege." When Twitter followers pestered him for specifics, he declined to offer more details, responding, "I cannot elaborate beyond Mass Effect franchise." Next up for the franchise is supposedly that "far reaching" Mass Effect ... thing, which has been teased to arrive early next year.
Review: Singularity
When faced with the imminent collapse of your once idyllic and isolated society, you'll find that adhering to a few simple rules could save your too-good-to-be-true life. The difference between escaping dystopia and dying of dysentery in a locker is made plain in these important steps: Don't bother trying to keep up with the Joneses anymore. Their mutated forms have granted them incredible endurance and speed. Avoid any scientific laboratories, especially those staffed by inter-dimensional riftologists. If you must visit one, always go for the Exploding Barrel Research Center. For god's sake, don't use an antiquated audio recorder -- no matter how charming it is -- to capture your final, downtrodden play at preservation. The minute you start talking about how you got separated from the others, you're inviting ... what was that noise? Oh god, I can hear it in the vents and AAAAIIEEEEE etc.
Singularity trailer unveils even more features of the T.M.D.
It slices! It dices! It reduces your enemies to unrecognizable blobs of primordial goop! And now, thanks to the latest trailer for Raven and Activision's temporally unstable shooter Singularity, another feature of the handy Time Manipulation Device has been revealed: It grants the user complete control over the forces of gravity. It's official: This is the raddest glove ever. Check out the trailer above, and see some of the practical applications this feature has on the battlefield. We wonder what other T.M.D capabilities will be revealed in future trailers before the game launches on June 29. (For the record, our money's on a built-in stainless steel panini press.)
