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Modern Warfare 2 becomes the UK’s best-selling game ever

Posted by Chris Holmes at 5:47pm on August 23rd, 2010

Stats from Gfk ChartTrack have unveiled that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become the best-selling game of all time in the UK. It has finally overtaken Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training after 41 weeks of being on sale. Modern Warfare 2 has spent three weeks outside the top 10. Dr Kawashima took about 36 months to overtake Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the previous record holder.

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Modern Warfare 2 demo released

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:02pm on August 5th, 2010

Activision has released a single-player demo for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It comes nine months after the game’s launch and is available to download from the PlayStation Network and the Xbox Live Marketplace. It includes the entire Cliffhanger level.

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Modern Warfare 2 Resurgence Map Pack DLC detailed

Posted by Chris Holmes at 4:07pm on May 14th, 2010

Activision has confirmed a few details about the upcoming second map pack for Modern Warfare 2, the Resurgence Map Pack. It will be released on June 3^rd on Xbox Live, costing 1200 Allards. It features Vacant (Russian office complex) and Strike (urban town surrounded by hotels) from Call of Duty 4, as well as new maps: Carnival (abandoned carnival area complete with Ferris wheel, fun house and other attractions), Trailer Park (features a pool and tight corridors) and Fuel (based in and around an oil refinery, apparently a sniper haven).

The maps will be exclusive to the 360 for a short time before being released on the PS3 and PC. The new maps will be tied to specific playlists but may be made available for every playlist if demand is high enough.

Activision | Infinity Ward | News | Xbox 360 | Xbox Live Marketplace

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New Modern Warfare 2 DLC coming soon

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:31pm on May 7th, 2010

Activision has announced that a second map pack for Modern Warfare 2 will be released during the “back half of the year”, according to CFO Thomas Tippl. During last night’s earnings call with activation, Tippl said: “With respect to the Call of Duty franchise, we plan to release the second Map Pack for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, which is currently in development at Infinity Ward. I think they’ve been selling incredibly well. As you know, we’ve expanded the number of maps that we are providing as part of that release,” he stated.

“And therefore, the $15 price point has still provided a fantastic value to gamers and is also evidenced by the billions of hours that people are playing the game online. So we think that has worked. We have currently the second Map Pack in development at Infinity Ward. So we expect this to be launched sometime later this year. And we haven’t made any comment beyond that at this point.”

Microsoft is adamant that the first two map packs for Modern Warfare 2 are exclusive to the Xbox 360 for a timed period.

Activision | Infinity Ward | News | Xbox 360

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More staff leave Infinity Ward and join Respawn

Posted by Jereme Puik at 3:45am on April 27th, 2010

More staff members from the talent pool of Infinity Ward have jumped ship for the newly opened Respawn Entertainment. Lead character artist Joel Emslie and artists Ryan Lastimosa and Brad Allen are the latest members to leave the crumbling developer. In total the headcount for developers remaining at Infinity Ward has dropped to 11 so it’s only a matter of time before the studio becomes a desalt wasteland.

Although with all the drama from the studio crumbling, the developer still managed to release some downloadable content for Modern Warfare 2 calling it the “Stimulus Package” for the Xbox 360 costing you 15 bucks. The DLC will see release on the PC and Playstation 3 on May 4th.

Via G4TV

Developer News | Industry News | Infinity Ward

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Respawn Entertainment signs up ex-Infinity Ward staff

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:36pm on April 23rd, 2010

Seven ex-members of Infinity Ward’s staff have joined Respawn Entertainment, the company set up by previous Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella. The studio is starting to work May 1^st. The seven who jumped ship are: Todd Alderman, Mackey McCandlish, Mark Grisby, John Paul Messerly, Chris Cherubini, Rayme Vinson and Jon Shiring.

Developers are leaving Infinity Ward after the disagreement between West and Zampella had with Activision, whom owns the studio. Lawsuits for both parties have been launched. Respawn Entertainment has a publishing and funding deal in place with the EA Partners programme but remains an independent studio with complete creative control and ownership of its IP.

Activision | Industry News | Infinity Ward | News | Respawn Entertainment

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Modern Warfare 2 Inducted into Guinness Book of World Records

Posted by Jereme Puik at 4:27pm on April 21st, 2010

Today, thanks to an announcement by the Guinness Book of World Records, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (Activision/Infinity Ward) has become the biggest entertainment launch of all time. It will be recorded in the new release of the book and be recognized by all around. The records indicated that with verifiable sales numbers which total $401 million (£242.4 million) worldwide. The action-packed first person shooter became the fastest selling title in 24 hours breaking the record previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV.

“Video game releases such as the Call of Duty series have outperformed the launches of major Hollywood blockbusters for several years and the day-one sales for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 proved once again that video games have become cultural events in their own right,” said Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition Editor, Gaz Deaves. “The fan movement and hype surrounding this game in the run-up to launch was almost unprecedented in scale; we acknowledged early on that the big question wasn’t if it would break all-time entertainment records, but rather by how much.”

Activision | Industry News | Infinity Ward | News

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More key staff leave Infinity Ward

Posted by Chris Holmes at 3:58pm on April 14th, 2010

Lead designers Steve Fukuda and Zied Reike have resigned from Infinity Ward. Both had been with the developers since they opened back in 2002. They join the previous departures of programmer Jon Shiring, designer Mackey McCandlish, software engineer Francesco Gigliotti, lead designer Todd Alderman and former studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella.

Activision | Developer News | Infinity Ward | News

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Two more staff members leave Infinity Ward

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:40pm on April 13th, 2010

Programmer Jon Shiring and designer Mackey McCandlish have resigned from Infinity Ward. McCandlish had spent eight years with the Modern Warfare 2 developers, with Shiring notching up six years with the company. The news comes after last week’s resignation of both software engineer Francesco Gigliotti and lead designer Todd Alderman.

Former studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella have gone on to form their own development outfit – Respawn Entertainment. They have signed a publishing agreement with EA and are currently building up their studio by obtaining more staff.

Activision | Developer News | Infinity Ward | News

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Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Pack DLC coming to PC and PS3

Posted by Chris Holmes at 1:34pm on April 9th, 2010

Infinity Ward has announced that the Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package DLC will be coming to the PC and PS3. The maps will come to the PC on 4^th May and on the PS3 on 5^th May. The content is exclusive to the Xbox 360 for a month, and has had more than 2.5 million sales on that platform alone so far.

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More staff leave Infinity Ward

Posted by Chris Holmes at 1:20pm on April 6th, 2010

Today, lead designer Todd Alderman and software engineer Francesco Gigliotti have been confirmed to have left Infinity Ward after being a part of the company for a combined fifteen years. Recent rumours suggest the pair resigned. The Call of Duty and Modern Warfare developers have recently lost their studio founders (Vince Zampella and Jason West) after they were fired by Activision. They have gone on to sign with a Hollywood talent agency.

Activision | Developer News | Infinity Ward | News

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Avatar MW2 Night Vision Goggles going free for a few days

Posted by Chris Holmes at 8:57pm on April 2nd, 2010

Infinity Ward, Activision and Xbox have announced that the Modern Warfare 2 Avatar Night Vision Goggles are now free until Sunday 4^th April to celebrate the launch of the Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus map pack. If you purchased this item prior to the beginning of this promotion, Microsoft will automatically credit your account of the original purchase cost by May 1^st. Click here to queue up your download of the goggles.

Activision | Infinity Ward | Microsoft | News | Xbox Live

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Modern Warfare 2 double XP event starts today

Posted by Chris Holmes at 11:41am on March 30th, 2010

Infinity Ward has announced that the Modern Warfare 2 double XP event due to start this weekend has been pushed forward to begin today. This brings the double XP event in line with the release date for the first multiplayer map pack for Modern Warfare 2 (also today). Entitled ‘The Stimulus Package’, the pack features five new maps and costs 1200 Allards on Xbox Live. A release date and price for the PS3 version hasn’t been confirmed yet. There will also be a title update today that will address the One Man Army perk cheating and improve matchmaking. Infinity Ward will also be allowing players to play all the Ranger maps on Hardcore Headquarters Pro.

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