Tag Archives: activision

Analysis: What Long-Term Impact Could COD: Elite bring?

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Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris examines Activision’s move to bring a subscription option toCall of Duty players, and how the decision could hint at a wider subscription strategy at the publisher.

So now it’s official. The long-awaited (and, in some cases, long-feared) subscription service for Call of Duty is a reality. And while players pore through the previews and press release to determine exactly what Elite entails, I’m finding it a lot more interesting to look further down the road.

Make no mistake, Elite is a bold move by Activision – and one that could ultimately change the way the industry operates when it comes to user communities and digital add-ons.

Read more at Gamasutra

Everything you need to know about Call of Duty: Elite

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The long-rumored subscription service tied to the hit Call of Duty franchise is finally reality. And that has some gamers worried and confused.

Activision has formally unveiled Call of Duty: Elite, a premium service that adds a social layer and exclusive content – along with a monthly fee – to the popular shooter. But the addition of that fee and the features the publisher have discussed have muddied the waters a bit around the franchise. Here are some answers to some of the biggest questions:

Read more at Yahoo! Games

Activision Finds New Way to Monetize ‘Call of Duty’

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“Call of Duty” might be the best selling franchise in the video game industry, but Activision-Blizzard is looking to double down on its earnings potential.

The company has unveiled a subscription-based online service called “Call of Duty: Elite” that will provide extra content for players, including map packs and social network functionality for players.

Read more at CNBC.com

Activision: Call of Duty: Black Ops used more than Facebook

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Every day, the average Facebook user spends 55 minutes clicking through the popular social networking site. That’s an impressive time sink — but players of Call of Duty: Black Ops have them beat.

Activision says since the First Strike downloadable content pack was released on February 1, players have averaged 58 minutes per day playing online. Given that the game itself is now over six months old, that’s a seriously dedicated fan base.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

EA: Battlefield 3 will ‘take down’ Call of Duty

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There’s no love lost between leading game publishers Activision and Electronic Arts, but this November the studios are planning their biggest battle yet.

EA CEO John Riccitiello, speaking at the Ad Age Digital Conference this week, confirmed that upcoming shooter Battlefield 3 will be released in November, putting it in a head-to-head battle with the latest Call of Duty game — widely expected to be Modern Warfare 3.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

Gaming’s new war: Independents threaten major publishers

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Activision and EA aren’t going away anytime soon, but the never ending clash of the video game publishing titans has opened the door for a newer, more nimble type of competitor.

Their names — Zeptolab, Mojang, LimaSky — certainly don’t demand attention like the major console publishers. But their products are as familiar to the gaming world as many titles from the big guns. And, in some circles, they’re perhaps even better known.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

The Best Selling Video Games of This Generation

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While the Halo series might be one of the biggest names in the gaming universe, the Master Chief falls a bit short when it comes to his peers. Microsoft’s biggest franchise is nowhere to be found in the ranking of the industry’s best selling games, as ranked by life-to-date sales.

The list, calculated by the NPD Group, uses data that reaches back to 1995 is not inflation adjusted. (It looks at gross sales.) But it still shines some light on the biggest individual titles the industry. CNBC.com looks at the 10 biggest.

Read more at CNBC.com

Call of Duty, Guitar Hero Top All-Time Best Selling List

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Activision-Blizzard has come a long way in the past few years.

It wasn’t that long ago that the company was an also-ran in video game industry, making some strong franchises, but never really dominating the sales charts. These days, though, the company is responsible for five of the 10 highest grossing games of all time.

Read more at CNBC.com

Video Game Investors Brace for Another Bad Month

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With a weak slate of titles, February is shaping up to be another negative month for the video game industry.

Analysts expect game sales, which will be announced by the NPD Group after the market closes Thursday, to be significantly lower than the 2010 figures, as publishers once again had a lack of new blockbusters in the pipeline.

Read more at CNBC.com

Next up from Halo makers: An online world

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After ten years of creating and exploring the Halo universe, ace developer Bungie Entertainment is ready to build a new world — and it’s apparently going to be a mighty big one.

The developer has confirmed that its next project will be a massively-multiplayer online action game. While the company is still keeping most of the details shrouded in secrecy, Bungie’s lead network engineer David Aldridge told game makers at the Game Developer Conference that the title would not simply be “[World of Warcraft] in space.”

Read more at Yahoo! Games