I have obtained more information about MW3 today. Two important information to know about. I’ll start with this Call of Duty Elite information that was leaked during yesterday’s big MW3 boxart reveal. [MW3Blog article]
Lets start with backstory, shall we? Treyarch has been wine-tasting the market through Call of Duty: Black Ops in two ways. Treyarch introduced Call of Duty points, these points can be earned through various things such as killing an opponent, achieving challenges, destroying killstreak rewards, getting a specific killstreak, and more. These COD points can be bartered for weapons, killstreak unlocks, equipment, and whatnot. Treyarch also introduced a game mode called “Wager Match.” These Wager Matches allowed you to sign a contract and put YOUR COD points on the line. The very same COD points that you use to buy your weapons, killstreaks, and items.
A company called Zynga is one of the world’s largest social games company. Many of their games including the ever popular facebook games such as FarmVille and Mafia Wars have been giving its users the option to buy points such as Mafia Wars’ “Favor Points” and FarmVille’s “FV cash” to name a few. These points can be purchased through the games’ interface, there are game cards that has points redeemable through any one of the games. These points can buy you an expansion of your farm land, a rare farm plot such as rare flowers, rare fruits, and rare items to name a few.
With me so far? Good.
For quite some time, there has been rumors about digital distribution service. Well, building on previous speculation that I reported before, Beachhead Studios is readying a content delivery platform that will allow you to buy weapons, items, other equipment, and DLC-style content such as new maps. Not only that, the service will allow you to do poker-style waging matches, cash-in-the-pot tournaments that you find in poker tournaments, and community events. [source] Is this service Call of Duty Elite that has been leaked before?
Stay tuned for more more information in a week from now. There has been rumors that a reveal is forthcoming on May 23rd. [source] I find that funny because there’s a lawsuit between former Infinity Ward executives and Activision on that same day. If you would like to be current on that situation, here‘s an article I wrote about the lawsuit.
Above looks like to be the world’s first glimpse of Modern Warfare 3’s logo. Many websites have been swirling with excitement over the new logo because it seems like COD and MW3 is undergoing a complete re-brand. The evidence is not just in the design, but also the typefaces. That’s not all, Kotaku got a boxart to share with the world, at this point the boxart isn’t official, its all speculation, and rumor:
Now, lets examine this “leaked” box art – remember folks everything is rumor and speculation until we get official word from Activision. The face is being shaded quite a lot. He seems to be either Price or Soap. Though the entire get-up seems to resemble Ghost. He’s holding an assault rifle, or a sniper rifle, since the visor scope has a collapsible hinge cover. I don’t know about you but the box art seems to indicate that we’re going back into the snow. There’s this foreshadow that shows what looks like rain, but is in fact snow flowing through the front of his legs.
And finally, what in the hell is this? Call of Duty Elite?
Could this be the digital delivery platform Activision was talking about two nights ago?
Last night at Activision’s earnings call, the new C.E.O of Acitivision let out some information regarding the new Call of Duty, saying the game has a massive scale. [MW3Blog article] He said that the game will have epic action, a better community because of connectivity, and immersion. We didn’t know too much about the game he spoke of, until Kotaku caught up with a “reliable” source.
The source said Captain John “Soap” MacTavish and Captain John Price will return to complete a much, much bigger story, that features a scenario that the world is in crisis. In the same world that Russia invaded U.S. that left a cliffhanger in MW2. [Kotaku article] This further indicates that the game in question is in fact Modern Warfare 3 that has been hinted for a year and a half. The source goes on to say that the game will have an urban theme – and the game will be highly destructible. The destructible environments has been a trademark of the Battlefield series. See for yourself:
There has been rumors that Activision is looking to monetize the Call of Duty franchise by the way of a pay to play model, that is a hallmark of MMORPG’s like World of Warcraft. This was further backed up by an announcement that there would be a digital platform that would further enhance the COD experience through COD upgrades. [source] This digital platform opens COD up to more weapons inventory; new weapons, new equipments, new weapon equipment, and weapon/item upgrades. These include weapon attachments that have been a hallmark of Call of Duty since COD4. But we still don’t know that that digital platform entails or even what it’s going to be. It’s purely speculation at this point. But the idea seems obvious, and is more in conjunction with Black Ops’ introduction of Call of Duty points. These points allowed you to buy unlocks within the actual game itself, so this digital platform may be the key to opening COD to a marketplace that the industry may have never seen before.
The difference between the content in Black Ops and the forthcoming Modern Warfare 3 is that the digital platform is purely a content delivery service intended to update regularly, and not presets as with previous games in the series. This project has been in development for 2 years, and is headed by Beachhead Studios.
Activision made it perfectly clear that when MW3 launches this year, players will start out with the same feature sets as the previous games in the series. They said that they can enhance their experience through this digital platform, but they also stressed that they’re optional add-ons.
The supposed pay to play model has been a rampant rumor since it was spoken about by former C.E.O. Bobby Kotick, but it’s a rumor that has been debunked by both Treyarch and Infinity Ward. In the investor call, Eric Hirshberg confirmed that the game will NOT be pay to play.
A few minutes ago, Activision C.E.O. in an investor call said that the new Call of Duty has a massive scale, and is deemed as a universe:
“The creative excellence and sheer scale of the game we are making, and the unprecedented online universe that will accompany it will re-set the bar for this genre, giving players a new level of emersion, connectivity, community and of course epic action. The game to date has exceeded every internal milestone and we look forward to showing it to sharing it with you soon.”
He reminds investors that Call of Duty is a franchise that COD is a huge franchise:
“By any measure, Call of Duty is one of the biggest entertainment franchises in the world and we expect this year’s game will set a new standard in the franchise.”
The new Activision Chief Executive Officer Eric Hirshberg said that he is pouring the investment into Call of Duty to “take the experience to an entirely new level.”
We still don’t know what the name of the game is going to be. There are rumors and speculation that the game may be called Project Colossus. [MW3Blog article]
I am getting more and more confused than I was a year ago. In 2008 it was revealed that Bobby Kotick was interested in the idea of evolving Call of Duty into a Massively Multiplayer Online game. [source] But we all know MMO’s take a long time to create and develop. And we all know MMO’s development isn’t all straight-forward or even simple. So, that is not going to happen for quite some time unless the entire venture of Activision and Blizzard combines their resources to make this game happen.
In 2010, first word of Modern Warfare 3 was circulating many websites. [source] Rumors has been mounting for quite some time, that the game is in fact in development, and slated for release this year. [MW3Blog article] OPM is hinting that the next game is indeed a game laced with “3” on it. [MW3Blog article]
Now, there seems to be some conflicting reports coming in. You see, a wholesales retailer called Tesco seems to have listed a new Call of Duty game in its database, according to a informant within Tesco Corporation. This Call of Duty title is called “Project Colossus.”[source] Now, back up for a second, they’re also listing November 8th as the release date for Project Colossus, this puts MW3 in the same release window as Battlefield 3. [source]
An event that Activision is holding tonight is an earnings and projections meeting. Activision is expecting a conference call tonight in this Quarterly Earnings meeting.
As I have reported before, there’s was supposed to be a huge reveal, but April came and went. There was a lot of speculation as to why, and “what’s next?” Battlefield 3 is taking over the video game industry by storm via gameplay reveals through online videos. Then out of nowhere, EA advertises the game on a basketball game – that’s supposed to be Activision’s tactic.
Activision has been mum about any new Call of Duty games at all this year, aside from two map packs that came out for Black Ops. The first map pack is called First Strike, and the second one is called Escalation. Some people were understanding of the delay, because Activision wants to give both map packs all the marketing resources, and focus on Black Ops’ two map packs. Others are waiting, and growing more and more impatient.
Now, we’re getting conflicting reports of either “Call of Duty Online,” or Modern Warfare 3. We have known that a Call of Duty MMO was in the works for quite some time; one source dates back to 2008. [Here’s a 2009 source] A website seems to have confirmation that COD Online exists and is slated for an announcement. [source] Mutiple sources are saying that the game will ship in 2012. As for Modern Warfare 3, several sources are saying MW3 is about to be revealed soon, as in today or tomorrow. [source] Earlier this week though, a very well-known voice actor in COD4 and MW2 (voice for Gaz and Ghost respectively) said an announcement for Modern Warfare 3 is coming this month. [source, here’s a better translation on a forum post at MW3Forum]
Here’s a new update: It has been confirmed that we’re going to be seeing a reveal of Modern Warfare 3 very soon. Official PlayStation Magazine hinted at a huge MW3 reveal, which you can see to the right. If you want to inspect the image in better resolution, head over to the source. Just remember, by the time you read next month’s issue of OPM, E32011 will already have been on-going, and we’ll know more information about MW3 there.
There’s a lot of speculation on whether Call of Duty is dying, or will just die off. [Here is one source] There has been some articles saying that Activision wrote in their memos that Call of duty may be dying, and some differences were pointed out. [source] Call of Duty is going to continue and will continue to exist, and will continue to sell.
Lets get to the facts first, though. I mean, we’re talking about a franchise that makes 1 billion dollars a year, give or take. That’s just revenues. COD4 has sold over 17 million units since it released in 2007. World of War sold less than COD4, however. Modern Warfare 2 sold more, by selling over 20 million units. Just to give you an idea, World of War sold 1.14 million units the first week of sales, while Modern Warfare 2 not only sold more in a week, and took in more money in the process by grossing 550 million dollars in the first week of sales. That’s close to a billion dollars. Now, earlier I said COD4 sold 17 million units, World at War fell short of expectations by selling only 11 million units worldwide. Black Ops grossed 650 million on the first week of sales, and 18 million units. Sit back and look at the difference in the numbers.
COD4: Modern Warfare – 17 million units.
COD: World at War – 11 million units.
COD: Modern Warfare 2 – 20 million units.
COD: Black Ops – 18 million units.
For the record: COD4, and Modern Warfare 2 were developed by Infinity Ward. World at War and Black Ops were developed by Treyarch. Notice that each company has more or less. Treyarch seems to lag behind Infinity Ward each time. Treyarch has consistently shown that the company is incapable of pushing the envelope. While Infinity Ward pushed hard. I also noticed that there’s a market cap in there. Black Ops only sold more because it seems to inherit the COD4/MW2 market. Activision needs to push harder in order to break a new record.
Let’s look at the history of the FPS niche for a bit, and then the music games niche. First Person Shooters were invented in 1992 with Wolfenstein 3D. Some argue that it dates back to 1973 with far, far less advanced games, and an NES game almost invented it with a power glove game called “Super Glove Ball.” But due to the difference in gameplay aesthetics, the games before Wolfenstein 3D did not fill the bill, but Doom did, and became one of the most influential video game of all time. That’s what…. 18 years that FPS has existed? That’s quite a long time. Now, music games for the most part have not sold all that well until games like Dance Dance Revolution, and Guitar Hero came onto the scene. The trend of music games started as late as 1997 if memory serves me right. That’s a 5 year difference you see there. In 1998 Dance Dance Revolution definitely revolutionized how you played music games – apart from physical media games like Simon Says. Guitar Hero was a franchise that was born in the year 2005, that’s a huge gap you see there, between DDR and GH is 7 years without a real killer app.
My point here is that FPS has been a constant, constant, and I mean the one constant genre that kept in the top 10 video games. There are hundreds and hundreds of FPS titles out in the market, against a niche that only survives on innovation alone. Not because of the genre. Not because it’s something that gamers want to play on a year by year basis. Not because it’s something new. Because the gamers are used to the genre. While music games are very broad, it fails to be the one constant thing that developers try to capitalize on, and miserably fails to keep gamers hooked. There’ll always be a new franchise that becomes the #1 best selling video game for that year. Doom was a franchise that has been the king for 5 years straight, Quake came in second for the same consecutive number of years, and lets not forget Epic’s best offering: The entire Unreal universe. Hell, there’s an engine named after it.
Lets talk about Electronic Arts; a company that is well intent on taking down Call of Duty from being the #1 video game in the world today. Electronic Arts is no stranger to the FPS genre; it has developed some First Person Shooters. Medal of Honor is their personal project, they have developed James Bond games, Battlefield, and Crysis.
In 2002, the Medal of Honor series was on a decline thanks to the intense competition of FPS titles released at the time, one game that emerged victorious was Call of Duty the year afterwards. Last year, Medal of Honor was revived by Electronic Arts with the intention to compete directly against Call of Duty. That plan fell flat on their faces because of many reasons.
That’s the next subject. One of the reasons why Medal of Honor failed to sell well, or nearly as well as Black Ops that released the month after MoH. Electronic Arts, if you’re reading this, take notes:
Modern Warfare 2 had a controversial component in a mission called “No Russian.” The segment was one of the most iconic, the most controversial mission of any video game thus far, it makes games like Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto pale in comparison at all. Rockstar might have been jealous of Activision. It’s so legendary, that pretty much every single television media conglomerates spoken ill towards Modern Warfare 2. But that’s actually a good thing, EA. It sold more copies worldwide. If you want, here’s one of the videos that bashes Modern Warfare 2:
Shortly before Medal of Honor’s release, there was a lot of information surfacing onto the internet, in the wake of it all though there was a lot of controversy surrounding one particular thing (actually two things): One, one of the factions that are in Medal of Honor was the Taliban. The other was the fact that the game focuses on the military team that fought in afghanistan; that’s also the where of MoH revival. A lot of people were asking if Osama Bin Laden is actually part of the plot.
The company retracted it’s idea to include Taliban; they removed the group entirely and altered pieces of the story. [source] So, MoH is basically a dumbed down first person shooter that was also plagued by various gameplay problems.
The difference between Electronic Arts and Activision shines through based on what you see so far; Activision had the balls to keep a controversial mission as part of the entire game, as much as it is a calculated risk, it paid off for them: 550 million dollars in the first week of sales. Basically kicked Grand Theft Auto 4 from the top of the list. Electronic Arts was shy of controversy so much that it had to remove the position that literally every gamer would want: Kill the Talibans, kill Osama Bin Laden.
Electronic Arts was very close to winning that top place. If only had Electronic Arts left it alone, it would have made them more money than they ever imagined. And I don’t think better graphics or engine like what Battlefield 3 is being; is going to help matters.
To that end: We do not know the story of Modern Warfare 3 right now, but a lot of people on forums, such as MW3Forum; are saying that Modern Warfare 3 should be “Operation Osama Bin Laden.” Following the news that Bin Laden has been killed.
‘Till then, Call of Duty is king. Deal with it, Electronic Arts!
An official release from Treyarch, the map pack is out now on Xbox Live:
Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation is now available for download on Xbox LIVE.
It’s packed with four brand new multiplayer maps and a new zombie map. Take on the opposition in a deserted Zoo. Battle through the casino in Hotel. Use the landscape to your advantage in Convoy. Take the battle into the Soviet heartland in Stockpile. And when you’re done… get ready to take on the zombies in the frozen wasteland of Siberia with an all-star cast of characters in Call of the Dead.
On top of all of that, this weekend is going to offer Double XP to everyone who plays. Get Escalation, hop online, and start rocketing up the ranks.
You can get the map pack for 1200 MS Points, or $15.
If you want to know how each map looks, check out the trailers below:
Stockpile Gameplay:
Convoy Gameplay:
Zoo Gameplay:
Hotel Gameplay:
Black Ops Escalation will head to PlayStation Network and the Steam service a month from now.
Treyarch released a patch update for Xbox 360. Its only a few days before May 3rd, when Black Ops: Escalation, a new DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops arrives. Treyarch made a list of what’s in the new update, it can be seen below:
4/28/11
(Title Update Eight)
• Support for Escalation Map Pack (Releasing 5/3/11)
• Security Updates.
• Addition of banner-style Message of the Day on the MP Main Menu.
• Addition of Hardcore FFA and TDM for Combat Training.
• Additional sniper rifle tuning changes.
• Addition of “Competition” Barebones playlist.
• Replaced RPG with Grim Reaper in Gun Game Wager Match.
• Prevent automatic weapons from jamming if the player is feathering the fire button on “Default Alt”, “Tactical Flipped” or “Nom4d Flipped”.
• Fine-tuned napalm and bombing-run damage indoors.
• Prevented rare invulnerability issue.
• Additional game mode timer options for Custom Games.
• Fixed a minor out of map exploit in Grid.
• General Killcam and death-cam improvements.
• Improved Auto-Assign reliability in Private Match.
• Addressed an infinite “joining session in progress” screen under very specific timing conditions.
• Demolition bombs can no longer explode and be defused at the same time.
• Spy play now activates in One in the Chamber in all cases.
• The “Sprint Kills” challenge for Steady Aim perk now rewards the player with the correct number of kills.
• Contracts purchased but not yet expired no longer count as expired when viewing a friend’s player card.
• Addressed a rare issue where a hacked camera spike would not function properly if the hacker also had a camera spike that was destroyed.
• Recording a clip with the speed mode for 2 cameras set to .1 will no longer increase in speed when switching perspectives back and forth.
• Improvements to Zipline functionality when viewed in Theater mode.
• Settings from custom games are all cleared and no longer carry over from one custom match to another.
• Improvements to map voting reliability in lobbies.
• Nova gas will now affect players that are standing over their tactical insertion.
• Hardcore players who kill another teammate in Second Chance now lose the proper amount of points.
• Players can no longer transfer emblems/backgrounds from Combat Training to Player Match.
• Player is no longer able to use a primary weapon in Second Chance (rare, specific instance).
• Improvements to “Community” filters.
Here’s a new update: It has been confirmed that we’re going to be seeing a reveal of Modern Warfare 3 very soon. Official PlayStation Magazine hinted at a huge MW3 reveal, which you can see to the right. If you want to inspect the image in better resolution, head over to the 