Call of Duty

If you think Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has had a major impact on just the video game industry, you may need to adjust your expectations.

According to Activision Blizzard, the game's publisher, Modern Warfare 2 has set records across the entire entertainment industry.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the "biggest entertainment launch in history," Activision said in a statement. In its first five days of availability, the game set a worldwide record with about $550 million in sales, according to internal Activision figures. It's impressive. But more impressive is the list of launches that it beat out.

In the first five days of availability, Modern Warfare 2 has eclipsed the largest worldwide box-office opening, held by "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," which tallied $394 million over its first five days. It also beat "The Dark Knight," which holds the U.S. box-office record with $203.8 million in first five-day sales.

The game also narrowly trumped Grand Theft Auto IV, which captured $500 million in sales in its first five days of availability.

In other words, Modern Warfare 2 has had a major release.

The game's success also translated to major numbers on Xbox Live. Activision reported that "more than 5.2 million multiplayer hours were logged playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the first day alone." On November 10, 2.2 million unique gamers played on Xbox Live, setting a new one-day record for the online-gaming platform.

Of course, it should be noted that all these figures come from Activision's internal estimates, which might differ from the NPD Group's official totals when it announces November video-game sales.

But until then, Activision can (rightfully so) celebrate Modern Warfare 2's success. And maybe the video-game industry, which has always received second billing to film in the entertainment space, can finally stake its claim to the top spot. Video games are, based on Modern Warfare 2's success, just as viable an entertainment platform as movies.

Source: CNet/Don Reisinger

Activision Blizzard has established a charity to help find jobs for unemployed veterans, it said Monday.

The Modern Warfare publisher has committed to raising millions of dollars through a new foundation called the Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit dedicated to helping soldiers find work.

This announcement coincided with the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which launched worldwide on November 10. Proceeds from the game will help fund the charity, Activision said.

An initial grant of $125,000 was made to the Paralyzed Veterans of America to help fund a new rehabilitation center in Boston.

A C.O.D.E. advisory board assembled by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will identify other organizations in need of grants and work to raise awareness for out-of-work veterans.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are more than half a million unemployed veterans living in the United States.

Link: http://www.callofdutyendowment.org/

Source: Wired/Gus Mustrapa

Josh Olin announced via Twitter that Treyarch is still supporting the PC with Modern Warfare 2 just days away.

Hey PC fans!

Good news – the team here at Treyarch are preparing a 1.7 patch to wrap up a few of the lingering issues surrounding the PC version of the game. Here’s a snippet from the 1.7 readme: Fixed a voice chat crash on systems with no default recording device selected. Fixed an issue causing erroneous duplicate qport errors. Server admins can disable team switching by setting g_allow_teamchange to 0. Players will be restricted to Auto-Assign in team-based gametypes. The team is just putting the finishing touches on it before sending it off to QA for testing. No ETA is planned yet, but I’ll update when I get better clarity on its progress.

Regards, -JD

Thanks Josh for the heads up!

Sounce: Planet Call of Duty/joshpeckler

US,  November 5, 2009 - During Activision's 3rd quarter financial call this afternoon, chief financial office Thomas Tipple highlighted the company's outlook for 2010, and confirmed a slew of new titles, including a new Call of Duty and Guitar Hero game.

"In 2010, Activision publishing is expected to release a strong product line of innovative new titles," Tipple said. "The diversified lineup will include, among others, titles based on the best-selling franchises in the company's history, including Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk, Shrek, and Spiderman, and a select few new intellectual properties such as Blur and Singularity, and a strong catalog based on our top sellers of 2009."

One possible developer for the new Call of Duty is Treyarch studios, which previously developed Call of Duty: World at War in 2008, and recently finished up Call of Duty: Modern Warfare -- Reflex due out next week for Nintendo Wii.

Source: IGN/Jim Reilly