Items tagged with Activision
When can you pretty much guarantee that the multiplayer part of a certain game is more popular than its single-player campaign? When the publisher decides to release an MP-only "starter pack", of course. That's exactly what Activision has just done with Call of Duty: Black Ops III. It's no secret that the Call of Duty series is one of the most popular destinations for gaming on Earth, with each release selling in quantities that are enviable by every other developer and publisher out there. So why, then, would Activision risk hurting its sales by releasing an MP-only pack? By stripping many features and capping the level - those crafty buggers! But what else can we expect for the asking price...
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According to an eSports tracking website, Activision has just purchased "substantially all" of the assets belonging to Major League Gaming. At the moment, this should be considered a rumor, as only a single source has information on it. However, the "proof" does look quite convincing. If the information is accurate, Activision will have paid a total of $46,000,000 to absorb MLG. That's a hefty sum, but apparently worth it to a company that wants to make a major impact on the market. It's increasingly becoming evident that many game publishers would rather run their own events than partake in someone else's. Valve has seen major success running its own show with Dota 2, and the same goes for Riot...
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Activision Blizzard is sitting on several lucrative game franchises, and to squeeze even more money out of them, it's launching a new film and television studio that will create original content based on its library of iconic intellectual properties. Former Disney executive Nick van Dyk will co-head the new venture, which has been dubbed Activision Blizzard Studios. The studio's first production will be Skylanders Academy, an animated TV series based on Skylanders. It has the backing of some talented people, like Eric Rogers (Futurama), who's supervising the project, and Justin Long (Alvin and Chipmunks, Ask Me Anything) as the voice of Spyro. Ashley Tisdale will also provide voice over talent....
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Yesterday, we received great news from Activision with the formation of the Call of Duty World League, which will launch in January 2016. Today, however, we’re getting some not-so-great news for owners of last generation Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 gaming consoles. Treyarch announced today that the Xbox 360 and PS3 version of Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 will not feature a single-player campaign mode. Treyarch explains that “delivering the best possible gameplay experience on all platforms is always our highest priority,” but that it “could not be faithfully recreated on old generation hardware.” “With that in mind, Black Ops 3 PS3 and Xbox 360 players can continue to look forward to a new experience...
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The latest installment in the Call of Duty franchise is set to launch in later this year, and the gaming community is eagerly awaiting its arrival. The official launch date for Call of Duty: Black Ops III is set for November 6th, and it’s bound to be another sales blockbuster (like the previous entries in the franchise). To take advantage of the huge hype surrounding the upcoming title and the enthusiasm generated by the eSports realm in general, Activision has announced that it will create the Call of Duty World League. Thankfully, Activision is dividing the Call of Duty World League by offering two divisions: The Pro Division and The Challenge Division. As its name implies, the Pro circuit...
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After a string of disappointing game launches (some of which were possibly made worse by inadequate testing), it’s good to see Activision and developer Treyarch running a large-scale beta ahead of its Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 release. Scott Lowe of Activision announced this week that that the companies will run a worldwide multiplayer beta starting next month, giving it plenty of time to work out any kinks before the official November 6 release date. “During the beta, fans will have an opportunity to try the new momentum-based, chained movement system, find the perfect Specialist to fit their play style, get a feel for the new multiplayer maps and more,” Lowe wrote in a blog post. So what are...
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Like many MMORPGs, World of Warcraft can be a grind. To sidestep the time commitment required to continually level up a character, gather resources, improve skills, or whatever else is desired, some gamers turn to bots, software that automates the process. The only problem is, Activision Blizzard isn't so keen on this behavior and has dropped the ban hammer hard on gamers who've been using them. Activision Blizzard didn't specify exactly how many people it booted, saying only that it was a "large number of World of Warcraft accounts." However, a screenshot of a conversation between a player, Game Master, and Activision Blizzard employee suggests that over 100,000 World of Warcraft accounts were...
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The next installment in the Call of Duty series now has an official launch date: November 6. It’s a rather interesting date because November 6 is actually on a Friday, which is more typical of a new movie release than the usual Tuesday that is more common for new music and video game releases. Regardless of its launch date, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 will be available on both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles as well as PC. There’s no word yet on when gamers still rocking a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 will have the honor of picking up the game, but that information will come in due time. It should also be noted that eager gamers will also be able to gain access to a beta of Black Ops 3 ahead...
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Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is another success story for Activision. The latest installment has helped advance the franchise to grossing $10 billion in sales to date and, according to Activision, Advanced Warfare is the number one best-selling console game for this year in the U.S. While the latest Call of Duty game continues the trend of being one the year’s biggest sellers, Advanced Warfare also continues the trend of declining sales numbers over the past couple of years for the franchise. According to Edward Williams of BMO Capital Markets, the sales numbers for Advanced Warfare were 23 percent lower, year-over-year, than those posted by last year’s release, Call of Duty: Ghosts....
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Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare developer Sledgehammer Games has announced that it is currently working on an update for the FPS game. The incoming update will make some changes that are based on feedback from the player community and will add bug fixes, optimize connectivity, address certain issues, and polish several things ingame. “Our team has been working hard on improvements to the game,” said Sledgehammer Games co-founder Michael Condrey in a post on the developer’s website. “We’ve also had our ears to the ground, listening to your feedback. Our commitment to continuing to support the game and community is as strong as ever, and we have the whole team focused...
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Kevin Spacey's acting chops are on full display in Activision's Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Day Zero Edition, which is now available worldwide. It's an interesting launch on a number of levels, not the least of which is that this is the first CoD title led by developer Sledgehammer Games, the first time for a three-year development cycle, and it uses a entirely new game engine. "Three years ago we made some big decisions to invest in a three-year development cycle and to enlist Sledgehammer Games to be the first new lead studio for Call of Duty in a decade," said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc. "We believe that those decisions have paid off, resulting in a fantastic game,...
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Official Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Trailer Urges You To ‘Discover Your Power,’ No Kissing Goats
The Call of Duty series might not be for everyone, but every time Activision releases a new live-action video, I feel like it'd be a movie that many people would enjoy. They're simply well-put-together, and fun. The latest one, for Advanced Warfare, is no exception. Called "Discover Your Power", this video showcases many of the abilities and items you'll have at your perusal, such as super jumping, on-the-fly ziplines, threat grenades, and also vehicles. Here's what Activision has to say about the video, "Suit up and unleash the raw power of the advanced soldier in the live action trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Directed by Peter Berg and starring Taylor Kitsch and Emily Ratajkowski,...
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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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