Items tagged with Activision
When it comes to video games, the community is a smart lot capable of creating strategies and ways to progress through a game faster than developers might anticipate. And Destiny, developed by Bungie, is no exception. Recently, a group of players were able to defeat Destiny’s final boss in just 17 seconds on hard mode. The group of players belongs to a clan called Legendary Crew, which provided footage of its 17- second takedown of Atheon, the final boss for the Vault of Glass raid located on Venus. For Destiny players who might want to recreate this feat, the group consisted of three Sunsinger Warlocks and three Gunslinger Hunters. Five of the players were lever 30, which is Destiny’s...
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It seems that not only were people interested in purchasing Destiny that amounted to $325 million in worldwide sales within its first five, but also watching it. According to Activision, Destiny content was watched by 5 million unique viewers on Twitch during its first week. This means that not only is Destiny the best-selling new video game IP so far, but also when it comes to being viewed on Twitch. Activision also revealed that nearly 240 million minutes were spent watching Destiny streams and had nearly 20 million views during the game’s launch week on the streaming service. "Our community has always blown us away with their desire to share, entertain, and inspire," said Bungie community...
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Despite mixed reviews from game critics, Destiny’s sales have been great for Activision and Bungie. Activision announced today that the persistent online FPS title has sold-through over $325 million worldwide during its first five days since it was released on September 11. Activision also revealed that Destiny players had logged in more than 100 million hours within the first week and participated in 137 million activities. "Destiny fans played more than 100 million hours of the game in the first week. That's on par with the engagement levels of our most popular Call of Duty games, which obviously is an industry leader," said Activision Publishing ceo Eric Hirshberg. "Millions...
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Given all the pre-release hype and anticipation leading up to its release, Destiny may have been destined to become the biggest new video game franchise launch in history, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's well executed. In fact, several early reviews have some unflattering things to say about the game, most of which criticize the title for its lack of clear identity. Review site Polygon put two writers on the task in order to give readers multiple perspectives, though neither one was willing to lavish Destiny with praise. From the "dismal dialogue" to the lack of "character relationships to explore," reviewer Arthur Gies came away unimpressed, and also confused as to whether Destiny should...
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Publisher Activision Blizzard has reason to celebrate today, or more precisely, 500 million reasons to celebrate. Day one sales of its much anticipated Destiny title topped $500 million, which qualifies it as the biggest new video game franchise launch in the history of everything. It's also the highest-selling day one digital console release in history and is on track to become Activision Blizzard's next billion dollar franchise. "Based on extraordinary audience demand, retail and first party orders worldwide have exceeded $500 million for Destiny," said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. "This industry milestone marks another blockbuster success for our company and demonstrates our unique...
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It is launch week for Bungie’s highly anticipated FPS title Destiny. There have been many videos showcasing the game; especially the exclusive content consumers will receive if they purchase the game on PlayStation. While the videos have exclusively promoted Destiny on Sony’s PlayStation consoles, it hasn’t stopped Microsoft from reminding everyone that it is also available on the Xbox consoles as well. Now there is a new deal, for those who purchase the digital version of Destiny on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 of the game will receive a free, digital copy of the game for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. According to the FAQs page, the promotion works within each console family....
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If you haven’t noticed by now, all of the Destiny trailers have been focused on PlayStation and, more recently, showcasing all of the exclusive content that will be available on Sony’s PlayStation consoles. However, Microsoft UK isn’t going to sit back and let people think that Destiny is only coming to the PS3 and PS4. To generate awareness that Destiny is also available on the Xbox One and Xbox 360, Microsoft UK has begun its own unofficial advertising campaign with Destiny Fragrance. Heading over to DestinyFragrance.com brings up a cheeky little picture of a perfume bottle with the word “Destiny” on it and the Xbox logo. In addition, there is a message that reads,...
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When it comes to lucrative game franchises two of the most well-known ones happen to be Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto. Activision publishes the CoD franchise while Take-Two Interactive is responsible for publishing GTA. However, there are rumors floating around that Activision might be trying to purchase Take-Two. Speculation began when a research note from Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey talked about “an emerging romance” between both companies. Hickey said, “For Activision, acquiring Take-Two Interactive would be a no-brainer, in our view, circling some of the strongest development talent and owned IP in the world, within a company that has nearly $1 billion in cash and...
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There was never any doubt that Bungie's Destiny was going to be anything other than a major hit, but some proof of that has trickled out today: The game has become GameStop's most pre-ordered new IP in history. To celebrate this milestone, and also to help kick off Gamescom 2014, a competitive multiplayer trailer has been released, seen below. The trailer highlights a number of different competitive multiplayer modes, with something sure to suit your playstyle (assuming you like player-versus-player combat, of course). The game's version of Deathmatch is called Rumble, while Team Deathmatch is called Clash. Neither of these modes include vehicles from what I can tell; for that, the Combined Arms...
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We were given our first preview of Sledgehammer Games' second Call of Duty title, Advanced Warefare, back in May, so to say a multiplayer preview is a little overdue at this point would be a huge understatement. Well, that preview is here, and it comes to us in the form of a trailer. It looks like CoD fans are going to get a lot more of what they love, while CoD haters will get more fuel for their fire. Like CoD: Ghosts, Advanced Warfare will have evolving levels, usually caused by something catastrophic, like an explosion, or a barrier breaking and letting an ocean's worth of water through. I loved the levels in Ghosts that had these mechanics, and am pleased to see that Advanced Warfare looks...
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When Blizzard released World of Warcraft in 2004, the MMO world didn't know what was about to hit it. At the time of the game's release, I played two different MMOs, and post-WoW launch, I was amazed at the number of people who abandoned those games in favor of Blizzard's new hotness. In fact, in many ways, WoW caused the death of many an MMO. It's not just the fact that WoW was a good MMO; it was seriously accessible, and once most of your MMO-playing friends are in there, it's hard to break free. Well, it appears that free-to-play MMOs have been having the same effect on WoW that it had on other MMOs. Over the course of the game's lifetime, it's topped the charts of most subscription-based...
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The first images of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare hit the Web yesterday, in advance of what was supposed to be a proper unveiling this coming Sunday. Activision decided to pull the trigger early, however, and we're glad it did: Advanced Warfare could be the best Call of Duty title we've seen in quite some time. Like Modern Warfare 3, Advanced Warfare (these names bleed creativity, don't they?) is developed by Sledgehammer Games, and it's set to launch on November 4th. At this time, there doesn't seem to be a finalized list of supported platforms, and judging by the fact that the game's official website is not even live yet, we're sure Activision would have preferred the leaked images didn't...
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It's been four long years since we last saw a new Tony Hawk video game, which might as well be an eternity if you're a fan of skateboarding and/or the skateboarding legend himself (who, by the way, retired from the sport in 1999). Though it seemed like there might never be another Tony Hawk game, the legendary skater teased a new game while speaking on his Demolition Radio show on SiriusXM. "We're working on a game, we are working on a game; it's pretty cool," Hawk said. He then made a reference to motion capture while a co-host chimed in, "It's a whole suit you have to put on." Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD In case you need further proof of a new Tony Hawk game, Activision confirmed to IGN that...
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The good news is that Bungie’s eagerly anticipated Destiny finally has a release date. The bad news is that date is September 9th, 2014, which is several long months away. The Destiny Beta will kick off this summer, so those involved on that front won’t have to wait as long to dive in, but that still may be disappointing news for some--it was previously thought that the beta would launch sometime in Q1 2014. As we noted earlier, the beta will launch first for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, offering a tasty early selling point for Sony’s consoles over Microsoft’s. The latter’s Xbox 360 and Xbox One will get the game soon enough, though. Destiny is an ambitious...
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If you’ve never played “Skylanders” with kids before, you’re missing out. It’s easy to see why the franchise is so popular; the game is simple enough that young kids can play it, yet it’s sufficiently entertaining that you don’t get bored playing it with them, and the multitude of available characters with different strengths and abilities provide another vector of engagement for the youngsters. There’s another installment launching today--”Skylanders SWAP Force”--and in this go-around, Activision has added a superb element: the ability to swap the tops and bottoms of 16 characters so that players can create their own combinations of...
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Destiny isn't set to launch until Q2/Q3 next year, but Bungie and Activision have wasted no time in revealing the box art for their game. Given the art we've seen in the past, these boxes are likely to strike no one as all-too-interesting, though ahead of the next-generation console launch, it is still kind of neat to get a glimpse at one of those boxes. The game has been confirmed for the PlayStation 3 and 4, as well as the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Unfortunately, no PC variant has been announced, but it has been rumored that it's being considered. Along with the box art, a new trailer has been released that takes us to the moon: If a trailer and box art are not enough to tide you over for a bit...
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As nutty as it may seem, the thing I get most excited about whenever the latest Call of Duty drops is the single-player campaign. I know - I should be ashamed. While many consider the story to be the weakest part of any CoD, I eat it up, and given the fact that no CoD has failed to keep me engaged, I have rather high expectations for Ghosts. A new trailer, released just today, helps fuel that further: The thing that might excite me most about Ghosts is the obvious improvement to the game engine. I am not sure if we're going to be seeing Battlefield 4-level graphics here, but it does look like we're going to be close. I believe that Ghosts will be the first CoD title in a while where the series'...
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Infinity Ward's highly anticipated Call of Duty: Ghosts comes out on November 5, 2013, which is 10 days before Sony's PlayStation 4 (PS4) console will be available in the U.S. and Canada. If the thought of waiting a week and a half to play Ghosts is just too much bear, Activision comes to the rescue with a $10 upgrade offer so you don't have to skip a beat. It's pretty simple. Gamers who purchase Ghosts on PlayStation 3 (PS3) will be able to upgrade their copy to a PS4 version for $10. Full details will be offered in the weeks to come, but in the meantime, you can rest easy knowing that you won't have to pay full price for Ghosts all over again if you're planning to hop on the PS4 when it comes...
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Want to know everything there is to know about the new Call of Duty? Bang it here for the live stream of the full reveal of Call of Duty: Ghosts. Call of Duty: Ghosts will be available for the PC as well as the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 consoles. It appears to be coming for the Wii U, as well. We’ve covered this game a bit already, and the trailers look amazing. Enjoy getting all the details from Activision....
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The CEO of Activision Blizzard Bobby Kotick announced this morning that he would lead an investor buyout of the company worth approximately $8.2 billion dollars. The move would free Blactivision (how has this moniker never caught on?) to become an independent publisher and free it from the clutches of Vivendi, the evil French entertainment conglomerate. Vivendi has reportedly been attempting to sell Activision Blizzard for years, due to an apparent hatred of actually turning a profit, given than the game developer owns some of the most popular franchises on Earth. Kotick, otherwise known as Satan (if you think I'm kidding, hie thee to Google and type "Bobby Kotick is a" in the search bar and...
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We got a taste of “Destiny”, a new MMO being developed by Activision and Bungie, back in February, and now the companies are teasing the game even more with a trailer called “Law of the Jungle”. Directed by Jon Favreau and featuring Giancarlo Esposito, the trailer teases what appear to be cut shots interspersed with a bit of gameplay action. There are three protagonists fighting side-by-side against an invading alien force, and each of the three has a different look and different weapons. For example, one has a hood and cape while another has a quasi Boba Fett-style helmet. In terms of weaponry, we see that there’s a Street Fighter II-esque ball of energy that the...
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It’s official: the next iteration of Activision’s Call of Duty series is nigh, and far from being just another entry into the Modern Warfare series, it’s an all-new game with new characters, new setting, and even a new engine. Activision is calling it a “leap forward” for the franchise. You can preorder your copy of “Call of Duty: Ghosts” for Xbox, PS3, or PC starting today at a variety of retail outlets worldwide, and there will be some first looks available on May 21st (at 10am PDT) on Xbox.com, Xbox LIVE, and SPIKE TV. For now, enjoy this teaser trailer: The video shows a series of menacing masked warriors plucked from different times and cultures...
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