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Black Ops 'First Strike' DLC sold 1.4M units in first 24 hours
During an investors call today, Activision announced that 1.4 million copies of Call of Duty: Black Ops' "First Strike" map pack were sold "in the first 24 hours" of its February 1 debut on Xbox Live. At $15 a pop, that's $21 million in gross revenue in a single day -- on a single platform! Notably, Activision Publishing's Eric Hirshberg pointed out that those sales were a "20 percent increase over Modern Warfare 2's 'Stimulus Package DLC'" launch. He added that First Strike, which was also released on PSN and PC in March, "continues to outsell the Stimulus Pack by more than 20 percent." But hey, let's give our old friend the Stimulus Pack a break -- after all, the poor thing had to suffer the full rage of the internet when it became the very first Call of Duty DLC priced at $15! First Strike had it easy.
Black Ops: Call of the Dead's Wunderwaffe-ful Easter egg revealed
It's no secret that the new Call of the Dead map for Call of Duty: Black Ops packs some major star power, but it also contains some well-hidden firepower. NextGenTactics details how to unlock the map's secret Wunderwaffe DG-2, an Achievement and some hilarious cameos in the video after the break.
PSA: Call of Duty Black Ops 'Escalation' DLC out now
The Call of Duty: Black Ops "Escalation" DLC is available now on Xbox 360 for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15). The pack contains five new maps and ... wait, wait, this totally deserves its own paragraph. And: "Call of the Dead". It's a new zombie mode map featuring Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy: The Vampire Slayer), Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund, the ever-present Danny Trejo (Machete) and The Walking Dead's Michael Rooker -- oh yeah, and an undead George Romero. %Gallery-122317%
Black Ops burger flipper shines in new 'Escalation' trailer
Let's take a moment to thank Activision for bringing the man pictured above into our lives. First seen in the Call of Duty: Black Ops television commercial, he now appears in the 'Escalation' map pack trailer featured after the break. Seriously, how cool is this guy? He's like the coolest guy in the room. Any room.
Take a video tour of Call of Duty: Black Ops' 'Escalation' DLC
The wait until May 3 must be killing you, but soon enough, spring will be in full bloom and you'll have five new Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer maps in which to obliterate your friends. And Treyarch aims to stoke your impatience with today's release of a new walkthrough trailer of the maps (after the break) and a variety of screenshots (below). Does the sneak peek make the maps arrive any sooner? No, but taking a look will help eat into the minutes between now and launch day. Like, a few minutes at least.%Gallery-121609%
Call of Duty: Black Ops mod tools launching in May
Tired of all that silly "paying" for new Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer maps? We know, we know -- money is so 2010. Good thing for you, then, that Treyarch announced plans this week (via Twitter) to officially release the promised mod tools for Black Ops sometime this May. The tools will, of course, only end up on the PC version of Blops, though considering that they never ended up in any version of Modern Warfare 2, we're looking at this as a pretty major improvement. Also, now we can finally live out that dream of recreating Super Mario Bros. stage 1-1 in Call of Duty. Wait ... what?!
Call of Duty: Black Ops 'Escalation' DLC drops on Xbox 360 May 3
Remember that retailer leak a week ago that thoroughly detailed an upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops DLC pack called "Escalation?" Turns out that was totally spot-on -- surprise! -- and Black Ops multiplayer will be escalating on May 3 with the injection of five new maps: Convoy, Zoo, Stockpile, Hotel, and an unnamed Zombies mode map. Still unknown about the just revealed pack? The price, though we imagine it'll mirror past Call of Duty DLC packs at a cool $15. Either way, we'll find out soon enough, as the pack drops in just three short weeks for Xbox 360 players and on PS3 and PC at some point after, per Microsoft's exclusivity agreement.
Report: Black Ops 'Escalation' DLC outed by retail flyer, coming this May
Whoops! It seems that Call of Duty: Black Ops will get a second DLC pack on May 3, according to a flyer that allegedly popped up on GAME's Australian retail site (since pulled, but captured by VG247). The flyer advertises five seemingly distinct maps -- a zoo, a hotel, a convoy, a stockpile, and a new locale for the co-op Zombie Mode -- but doesn't list a price. As per Activision and Microsoft's timed exclusivity agreement, the date only applies to Xbox Live for now. Activision couldn't be reached for comment as of publishing, but we'll update this story as soon as we get more information.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 'First Strike' DLC on PC March 25
At this point it's hard to call this Call of Duty: Black Ops DLC "First Strike" with a straight face, since it first struck on Xbox a month ago, and then on PS3 on March 3. Ironic name or not, it's finally coming to PC on March 25, according to a tweeted announcement by Treyarch's Josh Olin. As Olin mentions in the tweet, you can pre-purchase the DLC right now through Steam. Though you don't strictly need to secure your copy of a digital-only product ahead of time, since there's no concern about scarcity, you do save $1.50 by doing so.
Call of Duty: Black Ops double XP weekend starts now
The road to prestige is paved with the bodies of millions of noobs. However, you can halve that number this weekend to get that arbitrary icon you're after -- a double XP weekend for Call of Duty: Black Ops is in full effect right now. Players on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC have access to the additional experience until 8AM PST/11AM EST on Monday, March 7, at which point planting a tomahawk in some chump's back will lose just a bit of its luster.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 'First Strike' DLC lands on PS3, gets bonus music video
For many, the fall of the Berlin Wall represents the triumph of freedom over facism. Long an icon of social repression, the Berlin Wall has evolved into something far greater. It's a Call of Duty map now. One that stages a musical number.
Call of Duty: Black Ops extra modes unlocked this weekend
Good news: Just for President's Day, Activision is unlocking Call of Duty: Black Ops' two secret modes: Dead Ops Arcade, the top-down dual-stick shooter hidden in a DOS emulator, and the Presidential zombie fight known as "Five" that's unlocked upon completion of the single-player campaign. They'll remain unlocked throughout the weekend -- free of charge -- so get 'em before they return to Easter Egg status.
Black Ops 'First Strike' coming to PS3 on March 3, to PC by April
Activision's latest financial report boasted some pretty huge figures for Call of Duty: Black Ops' first piece of multiplayer DLC, "First Strike" -- the most staggering of which being that the pack was purchased 1.4 million times within 24 hours of its February 1 launch on Xbox Live. The publisher is looking to bolster that number in the coming months: In the same report, Activision revealed that the map pack will come to PSN on March 3, and then to PC "later in the quarter" -- corpo-speak for "sometime before March 31." This staggered release falls in line with Microsoft's timed-exclusivity deal with Activision for Call of Duty DLC through the rest of the year. We guess "a month and two days" isn't the most ridiculous amount of time for PS3 owners to be forced to wait. Then again, in Internet-Gaming Time, that's about 15-and-a-half years, so ... yeah. Never mind.
PSA: Black Ops First Strike DLC must match language on disc
Microsoft is warning players who are picking up the Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike map pack from the Marketplace to make sure they choose the same language for the game they own. If you purchase an alternate language pack, the company is quite explicit that the DLC "will not work" and you'll receive an error message. This shouldn't be of concern to those in the States, but Canadians may run into the issue of having the English and French versions offered. It also gets messy if you have a French-language copy of Black Ops in the States, as the French DLC isn't offered in that Marketplace. So, in conclusion: make sure your Black Ops disc language matches that of the DLC you're buying. %Gallery-115315%
Latest PS3 firmware update brings the bans for Black Ops hacks
Dirty, dirty Black Ops cheaters that downloaded the new PS3 firmware, update 3.56, are finding out exactly what Sony meant when it said the patch would help bolster "security." A grip of consoles have been permanently banned from Black Ops multiplayer servers for hacking or cheating after their users installed the new firmware -- though some of the outspoken among the banned are contesting the presumption that they are cheaters on the game's official forums. (Which is like, the first thing you'd do if you were a dirty, dirty cheater.) In a seemingly cooperative attack executed by two mortal enemies, firmware 3.56 joins last week's mandatory Xbox Live update, which also stopped pirated and modded copies of Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2 in their tracks. Is Activision's cash cow so powerful that the publisher can request its own console updates at will? If that's the case, Activision: Would you please, please ask Sony to add cross-game chat? Oh, and see if Microsoft will bring black the blades. We miss the blades.
Black Ops PS3 patch fixes freezing errors, adds new Contracts
If you're a PS3 player troubled by Call of Duty: Black Ops bugs, take heart in the fact that Treyarch is listening to you. Particularly those of you troubled enough to submit a complaint to the government, we're guessing. Last night, the developer issued a new patch for Black Ops, fixing various freezing, "infinite loading screen," and other issues. The patch also includes balance tweaks for weapons including the PSG1, silenced sniper rifle, RCXD, and AK47U, a new pre-match timer for system link and LAN multiplayer games, and some new Contracts, all of which you'll hopefully get to experience if the glitches are taken care of. Find the full list of changes at the official forum.
Latest Call of Duty: Black Ops 'First Strike' trailer has a smattering of zombies
We're now just one week away from the release of "First Strike," the first downloadable map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops. While last week's trailer went into some detail on some of the maps – notably excluding the zombie map "Ascension" – this week's trailer goes into no detail on all of the maps. Allow us to explain: You'll catch a well-edited glimpse of each of the five new multiplayer maps, but without any details it's tough to get excited; you're better off watching last week's trailer over again. However, if you're looking for a peek at "Ascension," this is the only game in town, so click that play button and scrub ahead to the 43-second mark.
Gamers' Voice to submit formal complaint over Black Ops PC/PS3 bugs
Gamers' Voice, the UK-headquartered video game enthusiast advocacy group founded by British Labor MP Tom Watson, will file a formal complaint to "relevant government agencies" this week regarding unresolved bugs in the PC and PS3 versions of Call of Duty: Black Ops. The group explained its position on the Gamers' Voice blog, stating "it doesn't matter how big a game is, it should not be released 'unfinished' or with bugs that make the game unplayable, which are words we have seen in a lot of emails to us recently." The group further explained why these bugs drew their attention, saying, "in the case with CODBLOPS, entire sections of the PS3 and PC gaming community are apparently being used as game testers for an extended period after a game's release, yet being asked to pay for the privilege." Hey, it could be much, much worse. They could be asked to participate in a reality television show for the privilege.
Mandatory Xbox 360 update sneakily halts Call of Duty pirates
Apparently, Microsoft sneaked a super secret feature into its recent, Boot-to-Disc-restoring mandatory Xbox 360 firmware update: the ability to stop Call of Duty: Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2 pirates and hackers dead in their tracks. Posters on the Xbox-Scene forums are claiming that consoles with backed-up versions of the two games took an awfully long time to download the relatively small update -- and once it arrived, it stopped backup versions of the two games from working altogether. Was this a coincidence, or was Microsoft targeting illicit players of two of Xbox Live's most active multiplayer titles? We've contacted Microsoft to try and find out.
Day's worth of Black Ops carnage makes for grim infographic
The graphic designers of Spijkermat figured that reducing 8 days' worth of Black Ops multiplayer stats to a pretty picture of daily averages would make the carnage counts comprehensible (as opposed to the unfathomable figures that scroll across the counter in the game's lobbies). They were wrong.
