Emails between some of the higher ups at Activision have been released and it reveals the growing animosity between the publishing giant and Infinity Ward, where plans were being hatched. Court documents outed by the LA Times show Activision's Dave Stohl expected a "big, negative PR story" from kicking out West and Zampella, adding it was 'freaking him out a little'.
Sony has announced the release of "Ultimate Editions" of several major PlayStation 3 titles, essentially full game downloads with all of the game's downloadable content included.
Mark Lamia, boss of developer Treyarch, has said the decision to take Call of Duty: Black Ops II into the near future was already decided when they were "in submission with Black Ops 1." The studio team was "really firing on all cylinders," as they wrapped up the first game. Lamia described it as a "base-level" where they could "push it so much more." Treyarch's 'worst kept secret.'
Call of Duty creator Infinity Ward has a job ad for a senior network engineer, and they'll be working on an "exciting unannounced title" for those fancy "next-gen console systems." The studio needs "high level network code" for their new project. Nothing specific about the title is revealed but they want someone interested in games, "preferably first person shooters."
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier has managed to hang on to the UK number one spot for a second week running, despite a significant drop in units sold.
Microsoft closed its E3 press conference with a Black Ops II demo, and also confirmed the game's DLC will once again appear on the 360 as a timed exclusive.
Will Arnett and Jason Bateman's Call of Duty: Elite comedy show has been revealed through a teaser trailer.
Last year, Activision held its first Call of Duty convention, Call of Duty: XP, which showed off both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and the new Call of Duty: Elite service. This year there will not be a convention, despite the success of last year's event.
A job listing that was pulled from Activision's official careers page revealed that Sledgehammer Games is working on a new Call of Duty game. The developer had been rumored on working on a Call of Duty spinoff before being assigned to help Infinity Ward develop Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
The Call of Duty franchise has a new development studio adding to its roster as Tony Hawk's NeverSoft have a "crack squad of eager" devs now assigned to the first-person genre. The studio made the announcement on its website but didn't specify if they'd be in a support role or if they'd get to create their own project within the series. What about that space rumour?
Diablo III became the first PC game to lead US videogame sales since Starcraft II two years ago, but it wasn't enough to prevent sales from suffering a 28% drop from May 2011 to May 2012, according to the NPD Group. This has been a trend in dipping sales for the past few months, starting with February 2012's 20% drop from February 2011.
Treyarch has confirmed that the PC version of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will support ranked dedicated servers, though the developer did not specify how they would be implemented.
Activision has announced that the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Content Pack 6 downloadable content will be available today for Call of Duty: Elite Xbox 360 premium members. The DLC will include the new Spec-Ops "Arctic Recon" mission, which includes three new Achievements, as well as three new Face Off maps, including Vortex, U-Turn, and Intersection.
Ball dribbling and red cards are atop the UK all format chart once again as EA Sports' FIFA 12 moves past Max Payne 3 and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Grasshopper's Lollipop Chainsaw entered 4th, while Diablo III suddenly rockets up 6th from 22nd. Gravity Rush debuted 11th. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 goes from 7th to 14th.
Major Nelson has revealed the content that will be hitting Xbox Live Marketplace for the next two weeks from the 26th June to the 9th July. The most noteworthy content hitting Marketplace is the highly anticipated Dawnguard expansion for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which will run gamers a whole 1600 MSP ($19.99 USD), as well as the free Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut and the Close Quarters expansion for Battlefield 3 for 1200 MSP ($14.99 USD).
Call of Duty: Black Ops map Nuketown could very well return in Black Ops 2. The map featured a fake 1950's-style American town built for US military types to test Nuclear detonations. It's to be "re-imagined for the future" according to an Irish retailer by the name of Xtravision, with Nuketown 2025 offered as a pre-order incentive. Treyarch will tease multiplayer in July.
Electronic Arts exec Frank Gibeau thanks Activision for debuting Call of Duty: Elite, states Battlefield 3's Premium service is better, and that similar services may debut on other EA licenses.
The Nuketown 2025 multiplayer map will be accompanying launch copies of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 as part of a pre-order incentive campaign with participating retailers. The Treyarch team are "excited about the reimagined" Nuketown given its popularity in Black Ops. It'll be given a tune up to reflect the near future setting of Black ops 2.
Web-show Noobtube will be the home to all the embarrassing moments in Call of Duty, confirms a teaser trailer for the Call of Duty: Elite TV show. Stupidity earns noobs infamy. Clan mates can send in clips of total noob moments for the world of Call of Duty fans to see in this web-show. Now would be a good time to practice your throwing arm, grenade spammers.
Activision has announced that Infinity Ward will be releasing the classic "Terminal" map from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for Modern Warfare 3 - and that it will be a free download.