Aside from the obvious singleplayer and multiplayer flavours you'd expect from Call of Duty: Black Ops, Treyarch have also added in multiple co-op. They designed them for when you just want to "have blast with your friends," sitting on the couch. Mark Lamia wouldn't talk of Commie zombies.
Frontier boss David Braben has already declared the Infinity Ward as we all came to know it, "is dead," and "woes betide the brand" if Treyarch go. Braben notes it "seems unlikely" the 2nd Call of Duty studio is going anywhere, but they've "nervously wondered" where they can go afterward he's sure.
Don Mattrick has announced a partnership between Microsoft and Activision that will see new DLC from the Call of Duty franchise released first over the Xbox Live Marketplace for the next three years. More details are expected soon.
If Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick could "snap his fingers" and get something done it would be an online subscription-based Call of Duty. It would give a "more compelling experience" believes Kotick, and fans are "clamoring for it." He's 'hopeful' such a project is in their future line-up.
Activision's Sledgehammer Games, co-founded by ex-EA man Glen Schofield of Visceral, has "well over 50" developers but they want more. The studio site teases and jokes that more details on their Call of Duty shooter is "coming soon or sooner" if they get more fresh employees.
That whole mess with Infinity Ward bleeding out developers is behind Activision, remarks Dave Stohl. They're all about "trying to rebuild" now. Getting recruits for IW is "not a problem." The studio is a culture, "a way of doing things," and they want it preserved. Expect great new franchises.
Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick has heard that "60% of subscribers are principally" Xbox Live Gold users so they can play Call of Duty. That annual slush fund grates Kotick because they don't "participate financially", only one-off DLC charges bring them cash. That makes him sad.
Another week means another helping of wares from the PlayStation Store, and Europe now gets LucasArts' classic Monkey Island 2 on PS3. The Modern Warfare 2 Resurgence Pack DLC is up for grabs now too, as is Dragon Age: Origins' Leliana's Song DLC. Patapon 3 demo anyone?
An updated lawsuit filed by employees of Infinity Ward reveals claims that Activision demanded they finish Modern Warfare 3 for bonus pay. Pay that should have been there's after Modern Warfare 2 was completed. Acti also used security to 'guard exits' and "forced" staff interrogations.
CEO Louis Castle of InstantAction, a co-founder of Westwood Studios, has said the latest Call of Duty could play through browsers this fall. If publishers start signing deals then many games could be played "for free somewhere". Microtransactions and subscriptions are the future.
Activision's Bobby Kotick is in love with the idea of monthly subscriptions for Call of Duty, although exactly how it would work is a mystery. The gamer who posted the video noted a pop-up said "Modern Warfare 2 Membersh," assuming the cut off word is 'Memberships'.
You won't need to pay a subscription to play the Call of Duty series online in the near future, as two of the main developers behind the franchise have debunked the rumours on Twitter. Infinity Ward's community manager Robert Bowling tweeted the following last night: "For the record, nobody has to pay to play COD or MW2 multiplayer, nor will they."
The Steam forums for PC Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 ignited with anger at Valve because their anti-cheat system starting banning. Well that's its job surely? Yes it is, when it's working. Valve has issued an apology from Gabe Newell, and given 2 free copies of Left 4 Dead 2.
No longer exclusive to PlayStation Plus - LittleBigPlanet can now be downloaded digitally to PS3, and inFamous now gets a trial version on PSN. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's Cliffhanger demo is available as well. There's a Kick-Ass price reduction, and the usual music game offerings.
Raven's Singularity "fell short" of the "exceptionally high bar" for the shooter genre, luckily Call of Duty picked up the slack, it 'set the bar' after all. Bizarre's racer Blur was "not able to break out" either but it did break "new ground" in terms of features defends Activision; a "significant investment".
The Stimulus map pack for PS3 and the Resurgence map pack for Xbox 360 cleared 5m sales during the April, May and June period alone. DLC for the Infinity Ward sequel is hot enough to rival full retail title releases. Quarter game and DLC sales combined beat 2010's best seller.
Bugs are always a nuisance to developers, but right now a glitch 'plaguing' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is working hard to fight that stereotype. Thanks to the way Xbox Live Arcade works, having the full retail or just a demo of MW2 gives users access to download full SNK titles completely free.
If you've spotted gamertags like 'DJVahn' over Xbox Live recently then don't believe they're Treyarch because studios have their own 'Xbox Live'. When making games they don't use Xbox Live but Partnernet, a dev-only network. Don't get tricked by these posers, warns Treyarch. A scam?
Treyarch's Call of Duty: Black Ops will be dealing with a zombie horde or two, just like World at War reveals US retailer Best Buy and their listing. Included in the 'Hardened' and 'Prestige' Editions for Black Ops are "Four Zombie Maps Pack" given fame by Treyarch's previous instalment.
A new kid on the Call of Duty block is Sledgehammer Games and they want boots on the ground, well actually in the studio, as they ramp up. The developer wants artists for FX, UI and lighting plus a gameplay and online engineer. Sledgehammer is based in California, owned by Acti.