Developer Raven Software has confirmed they're involved with the Call of Duty franchise through a recent job listing for a 'designer - builder' to join them. Their pedigree 'includes contributions' to the "blockbuster Call of Duty series", and they want new blood to "work on a first-person shooter." Just DLC?
NPD figures reveal that Neversoft's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is truly a legend in US videogame retail history as it holds the highest gross. Second to the music game is Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops at $787.4 million. Modern Warfare 2 is 4th with $713.6 million. Rock Band is 5th.
With the release of the First Strike DLC on PC, Treyarch has released a new patch, version 1.07, for Call of Duty: Black Ops . Most of the fixes done by the patch are related to multiplayer, mostly stabilizing connections and tweaking damage numbers.
DICE has revealed that the singleplayer campaign portion of Battlefield 3 is around 12 hours in length. It's in because a lot "don't want to jump straight" online. They want to "feel around a bit" before going multiplayer. They hope this will "invite more" to the franchise. Battlefield 3 is 'tipped' to seriously challenge Call of Duty.
When asked about a direct sequel to Call of Duty: Black Ops - a Black Ops 2 rather than a different moniker like World at War, community manager Josh Olin cagily hinted that it was a possibility.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been talking with MTV about his various movie roles, including the unfortunate "Doom" film, which "didn't work out the way we wanted it to" said Johnson. Although he did feel that they "had an opportunity with DOOM." Doom wasn't the only video game movie Johnson could have played a role in, as a movie based on "Spy Hunter" was planned, although it was later cancelled. Now "The Rock" wants to be in a Call of Duty: Black Ops movie.
Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter, who holds two law degrees, has said the former Infinity Ward bosses haven't a chance at gaining IP control. They're blending two "legal and equitable remedies" as they ask for damages and control of the Call of Duty IP, of which the law "just doesn’t allow".
Treyarch is defending the 1200 MSP ($14.99 USD) price point of the Call of Duty franchise's downloadable content that has been the norm since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Community manager Josh Olin claims that people "see value" in them. In an interview with OXM, Olin was asked if people had simply gotten used to paying premium prices for downloadable content, after fans had cried foul when the first expensive DLC had dropped for Modern Warfare 2 years ago.
Speaking at an Ad Age Conference keynote presentation, EA CEO John Riccitiello reckons that Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty will be duking it out with big ad budgets. They'll be topping $100m or so each he believes, and Riccitiello affirmed Battlefield 3 was "designed" to take Call of Duty down. EA can 'serve' 233m unique users.
The mighty New York rumble of Crysis 2 has been nudged down by Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360's Zumba Fitness: Join the Party. It climbed 2nd to 1st last week. LEGO Star Wars III held onto 3rd place while Dynasty Warriors entered 10th. Dragon Age II re-entered the top 20 at 15, and COD: Black Ops stormed 6 places.
Huge blockbuster budgets involve spending a lot of publisher cash before "a single penny is earned back," and that concerns a lot of people warns David Braben. With the rise of social and online gaming the triple-A blockbuster isn't the only means to earn big anymore he notes. Games are also "better suited" for ad revenue.
Microsoft director of programming Larry Hryb, best known as Major Nelson, is reporting that Activision has announced a new Call of Duty: Black Ops downloadable content pack called "Escalation", which will be available first to Xbox Live members on May 3, thanks to the three year exclusivity deal signed by Microsoft and Activision for Black Ops.
Treyarch community manager Josh Olin has tweeted that mod tools for Call of Duty: Black Ops should be arriving sometime in May.
Dan Winters of Activision, a publisher once thought of as "warm and cuddly", has said they "haven't changed!" They don't plot the downfall of gamers - honest! They've "worked very hard" and still do to try and convince us they're friendly and approachable. It's no "monolithic empire"; they respect studio talent.
The NPD Group is reporting that physical videogame software sales were down 16% from March 2010 to 2011. "New physical retail software sales declined significantly," the NPD Group said today in a statement. "Software sales last year were marked by several marquee titles including Final Fantasy XIII, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and God of War III, which were all million plus unit sellers in March 2010."
Developer Treyarch is celebrating the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops latest DLC Escalation with a planned double XP weekend bender starting May 6th. Four new multiplayer maps are a part of the Escalation pack, including a new Zombies level. The debut trailer has gone live for our viewing pleasure.
It seems Activision is just as worried about oversaturation of the Call of Duty franchise as many of the series' fans are, and are trying not to let it go the way of Guitar Hero.
Zumba Fitness is no longer leading the videogame conga line in the UK as Portal 2 bedazzles with science becoming number one, followed by Mortal Kombat. Call of Duty: Black Ops swoops in 3rd, meaning Zumba is left 4th. Codemasters' Operation Flashpoint: Red River enters 6th, and Wii Fit Plus rises again.
Microsoft's Major Nelson happily spills the Xbox Live schedule beans from now until May 3rd with a nice little selection of DLC and full title savings to be had. Outland joins XBLA today and Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury on May 4th. Games on Demand gets Dead Rising 2 and TEKKEN with Call of Duty: Black Ops May 3rd.
Valve's Portal 2 is keeping science 'hot' as it stays in 1st place in the UK all formats chart for another week, followed by Mortal Kombat maintaining its grip 2nd. Call of Duty: Black Ops has fallen as Zumba Fitness storms the ladder again to 3rd. Kinect Sports re-entered the top 20 coming 17th. Pokémon holds strong.