Just came accross this, as the original video was removed from YouTube by Activision. I’m assuming theres some material truth to it then, otherwise Activision wouldn’t care about it. Anyway, here it is. Rumured to be called the ‘Stimulus’ package, and released some time in april. This better not be a paid-for DLC.
So is the Call OF Duty series hearding over to a World Of Warcraft style gameplay after Treyarchs CoD offering this coming November?
Activision Publishing sent out this release on the 2nd March:
Activision Publishing Reveals New Plans for Call of Duty(R) Franchise
–Company to Establish Dedicated Business Unit to Focus on Product Excellence and Brand Expansion
–Company Confirms New Call of Duty Game To Be Released in 2011
–Activision Publishing Plans to Launch Call of Duty in New Genres and Asia
SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 2, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ — Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced new strategic plans for the Call of Duty(R) franchise, one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.
The plans include the formation of a dedicated business unit that will bring together its various new brand initiatives with focused, dedicated resources around the world. The company intends to expand the Call of Duty brand with the same focus seen in its Blizzard(R) Entertainment business unit. This will include a focus on high-margin digital online content and further the brand as the leading action entertainment franchise in new geographies, new genres and with new digital business models.
“2010 will be another important year for the Call of Duty franchise,” stated Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing. “In addition to continued catalog sales, new downloadable content from Infinity Ward and a new Call of Duty release, we are excited about the opportunity to bring the franchise to new geographies, genres and players.”
The company expects to release a new Call of Duty game from Treyarch this fall. In addition, Infinity Ward is in development on the first two downloadable map packs for ModernWarfare(R) 2 for release in 2010.
The company is also for the first time announcing that a new game in the Call of Duty series is expected to be released in 2011 and that Sledgehammer Games, a newly formed, wholly owned studio, is in development on a Call of Duty game that will extend the franchise into the action-adventure genre. Sledgehammer is helmed by industry veterans Glen A. Schofield and Michael Condrey. Prior to joining Activision Publishing, Schofield was the Executive Producer of the award-winning game, Dead Space and Michael Condrey was the Sr. Development Director on the game. The Dead Space franchise has won more than 80 industry awards worldwide including the prestigious A.I.A.S. Action Game of the Year and two B.A.F.T.A.S.
The Call of Duty business unit will be led by Philip Earl, who currently runs Activision Publishing’s Asia Pacific region and previously served in senior executive positions with Procter & Gamble and Nestle. Activision Publishing veterans Steve Pearce, chief technology officer and Steve Ackrich, head of production, will lead Infinity Ward on an interim basis. Jason West and Vince Zampella are no longer with Infinity Ward.
Lastly, Activision Publishing announced that the company is in discussions with a select number of partners to bring the franchise to Asia, one of the fastest growing regions for online multiplayer games in the world.
New genres huh? I’m not playing a MMO-style CoD. I guess from now on just watch and listen to the grapevine on what this turns out to be. Comment your thoughts
So I don’t know much more then anoyone else on this so i am just reposting from a G4TV.com post here.
UPDATE 12:02 AM: Double Fine’s Tim Schafer, who had his own troubles with Activision over the release ofBrutal Legend, recently commented on Twitter about what’s happening between Infinity Ward and Activision.
“Getting mad at Activision for this kind of thing is like getting mad at an ape for throwing feces,” said Schafer. “It’s just how the beast communicates.”
UPDATE 11:20 PM: It turns out Activision may have showed their hand in this matter earlier today.
In an SEC filing made this morning, Activision cited a human resources investigation into “breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward.”
Based on the information we currently have, at least one of those employees may have included Infinity Ward CTO Jason West. It’s possible Vince Zampella is the other unmentioned employee.
“This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation,” read the filing. “At present, the Company does not expect this matter to have a material impact on the Company.”
UPDATE 11:11 PM: Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling has vaguely addressed the situation.
“I should also say, while I appreciate all the calls, tweets, messages and hearing my ringtone a lot,” said Bowling on his Twitter account, “they’re in vain – as I have no info.”
UPDATE 10:07 PM: More developments on the situation at Infinity Ward have come to light.
A screen shot surfaced from Infinity Ward CTO Jason West’s Facebook page at Kotaku with the status update “Jason West is drinking. Also, unemployed.” I can confirm from a source that’s friends with West that update did actually come from West’s account.
West also updated his Linkedin profile to appears to reflect a change in employment.
“President/Game Director/CCO/CTO Infinity Ward
January 2001 – March 2010 (9 years 3 months)”
While this doesn’t yet provide much insight into what actually happened at Infinity Ward, it confirms there are changes afoot at the Call of Duty developer. As soon as I know more, you’ll know more.
ORIGINAL STORY: Something’s happening at Infinity Ward right now.
A source close to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 developer just informed me that a “bunch of bouncer-types” just showed up outside of the Infinity Ward offices unannounced. When approached by employees, the non-uniformed “bouncers” were unwilling to disclose why they were there.
“Everyone is on edge,” said my source.
Infinity Ward studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West reportedly met with Activision this morning and have not been seen by Infinity Ward staff members since. My source did not delve into specifics, but described the relationship between Infinity Ward and Activision lately as “tense.”
The mood around the Infinity Ward offices is currently described as “freaked out” and “confused.”
“We just wanna make our games,” said my source.
I’ve contacted Activision for comment on the ongoing situation at Infinity Ward. Stay tuned.
Heres to the end of the CoD PC franchise. RIP CoD – CoD5 (excluding CoD3 obviously). On a plus, BC2 is out now in North America, oh its ever so tempting to switch to battlefield instead of staring into a IWnet lobby. Peace.
So in an unexpected beta release, steam is showing off their sexy new user interface. It is a complete overhaul on Steams, somewhat lacking, UI.
A new version of Steam is available through a public opt-in beta, open to all Steam users. This Steam update provides several major upgrades to the platform’s core functionality. We’ve overhauled the Steam user interface to enhance the way you already buy and play games, adding more info about the things that matter — getting games, playing them with friends, and staying current in the gaming world.
To download and try out this new beta yourself, go to Settings in your steam menu and then selecting “2010 UI Update” under Beta Participation.
I have just started using this myself, and its very sexy. I think steam have been look into the Zune software’s UI.
On a side note, i wouldn’t mind that 19.4MB/s connection that Steam devs have. Maybe thats what every at IW thinks the community has to host MW2 .
Much like other CoD games, it didn’t take long for the talented modding community to remake some of the maps of Modern Warfare 2 into Call Of Duty 4. The latest map to arise from the hands of the mappers is Subbase, remade for CoD4 by =SC= Miregrobar.
Here is the latest video showing the progress made, it looks amazing to me and while the CoD4 engine limits the amout of objects used in a map (why it isn’t as detailed as the MW2 version), it is one of the most flawless remakes I have seen in a while.
I spoke with =SC= Miregrobar today, to ask him a few questions on his map and where the community stands now.
MW2-PC: Why did you want to remake a MW2 skin?
Miregrobar: First time I heard that mw2 will be released without dedicated servers, I decide to wait and see how the multiplayer maps look. After release I decide to remake Highrise map for CoD4, because I like that map in mw2 and becouse I want to give this map to CoD4 players. Also I wanted to see how mw2 map plays in cod4 dedicated server without high ping and lag and with 32+ players.
MW2-PC: Why did pick the SubBase map to remake?
Miregrobar: After I finished Highrise, I picked SubBase map because I like that map and becouse I never make winter style map before. So its a new challenge for me. So far i have succeeded in this chalenge, because the map looks realy great.
MW2-PC: How long did it take you to complete the SubbBase map?
Miregrobar: I spent allot hours working on this map, so I dont know precisly how many active hours I worked on map. Maybe a month of work. I still have stuff to do.Need to add beter snow on ground,to add all gametypes including CTF,to add heli,minimap and loadscrean. Also i am waitng my friend Red Beret to finish sub models for me to import in cod4 radiant.
MW2-PC: Do you wish that mod tools become available for MW2?
Miregrobar: I would love to see releasing mod tools for mw2. I peronaly think that i will not make any map for MW2 though. No dedicated server = no maps. I will use that tools only to improve CoD4 maps.
=SC= Miregrobar has made a host of other maps for CoD4 and 5, and has also remade Highrise from MW2 to CoD4. You can check out and download his other maps here . He has a CoD5 project in the works, so keep a watch out.
So there we have it, straight from the modders mouth: We need dedicated servers. And mod tools
Mr 402, where art thou mod tools?
On a side note, whats with not giving patchnotes again for 182 and 184, come on IW.
So soemthing which has bothered me recently, is the differences in the time played ont he stats screens on the single-player and multi-player progrmas respectively. Now, if it were a few minutes out, thats acceptable. BUT, when i looked today its over a day out. thats 24 hours appeared from nothing.
This screenshot i made better explains it.
Note the difference in time played. Over 1 day more on the single-player screen, than that of the multi-player screen.
Does this suggest that the single-player stats has counter how long i have been running the multi-player game (lobby+playing)?
In which case, 1/3 of the total time i have spent on this game (1 day) has been looking at a failed IWnet lobby.
Thanks allot IW.
On a side note, my bad for not updating in a little while – Getting fed up with MW2 again. Also i bought Bioshock 2 pre-order off steam and i need to complete Bioshock 1 before i can play the second one, if not my OCD will eat me, so thats keeping me busy
So fourzerotwo, aka Robert Bowling, has personally banned the Xbox 360 console and Xbox live account of a modder (named anthonyaisrael8) who posted a video on his YoTube account that showed that Map Packs were already on the retail disc. The video was soon removed from YouTube by Activision and the following message was sent to him:
Here is anthonyaisrael8’s response to the banning:
The original video was removed too quick for us to grab it, but Justless over on the MW247 forums managed to grabs some screenshots of them.
Mp pack 1 :
Revolt – ?
Pic : Here
Complex – ?
Pic : Here
Storm – ?
Pic : Here
Abandoned – ?
Pic : Here
DCWH – D.C White House – CONFIRMED (this is what i’d like to see)
Pic : Here
Compact – ?
Pic : Here
Old map pack 1 (4 CoD 4 Maps)
Shipment – SHIPMENT – CONFIRMED
Pic : Here
Vacant – VACANT – CONFIRMED
Pic : Here
Overgrown – OVERGROWN – CONFIRMED
Pic : Here
Crash – CRASH – CONFIRMED
Pic : Here
P.s, I’m a dedicated PC player with a flashed and jTag’d 360 in my room, this could get interesting.
Only a few days since the last update (1.0.175), a recent patch update has been released through Steam (which will auto-update when you restart Steam) is said to fix a number of pressing issues with the PC version of the game. Here is a complete list of what patch 1.0.177 is supposed to fix:
Care Package, Emergency Airdrop, and Sentry Gun marker grenades sprint speed normalized
Model 1887: Bling using Akimbo and FMJ combination now has same range and damage as non-Bling Model 1887s
Improved player collision removing cases of getting into geometry and ‘elevators’
Mouse latency tweaks for more mouse movement consistency
Fixes to prevent various texture and XP hacks
Its a start, i for one am please that the 1887’s have been nerfed again. Everytime balanced is mentioned in this game i laugh to myself, thinking back to the bestBuy chat, but the 1887’s were one of the many things that did outright piss me off.
No word has been said on mod-tools as of yet, and i’m not sure the latest attempts of stopping texture hacks has had much affect within the hacking community, its just cat and mouse.
Welcome to ModernWarfare2-pc.com. This site is basically turned into a rant about MW2 from a gamer who plays it on the PC version. I do try and post decent articles from time to time, so its not all me moaning :) - Leetmu
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This site is not intended to mirror all the media crap that comes out of the MW2 hype, but instead be a technical resource base for the PC users of MW2.
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Feb 18th 2010: I have done some theme updating, and now we are running the Pro version of Clean Home theme with a few custom edits. This is now much better looking that the free version we we running. :)
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