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Bungie’s Grand Plans For Their First Post-Halo “Action” Game
The game Bungie makes after Halo: Reach will be huge, on multiple platforms — won’t be Marathon-related — and is under Bungie’s control, the studio’s Brian Jarrard told Kotaku today. With Bungie’s future clarified, we learned some new details. Our interview occurred scant hours after Bungie announced that it has signed a 10-year deal with…
By Stephen Totilo Published April 29, 2010 -
Bungie Delivers (Another) Surprise Morning Package
Imagine my surprise when a FedEx man left a package from Bungie, marked to be delivered first thing this morning, the day their ten-year publishing agreement with Activision was unveiled Slicing through the brown packing tape, I discovered a black Pelican case coiled in bubble wrap. Inside? Popping it open I discovered inside what looked…
By Brian Crecente Published April 29, 2010 -
Halo Developer Joins Forces With Activision
Bungie, the studio that created the Halo franchise, will be partnering with Activision for an “exclusive, worldwide partnership” the developer revealed this morning. The partnership will encompass one upcoming franchise and will last for the next ten years. Bungie was founded in 1991 and was purchased by software giant Microsoft in 2000, but parted with…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 29, 2010 -
Buy Singularity, Get Prototype For Free
Raven Software’s oft-delayed sci-fi shooter Singularity will get a little help from last year’s open-world action adventure Prototype. Activision is giving away the latter if you purchase a copy of the Xbox 360 version of Singularity. Whether that’s a good sign for Singularity’s chances for success is up to you, but for anyone planning on…
By Michael McWhertor Published April 28, 2010 -
First Look At Next Call of Duty Happens This Friday
There’s a brand new Call of Duty game coming this year. This Friday, you’ll get your first peek at the follow-up to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, courtesy of GameTrailers TV. While Activision may be embroiled in drama related to its most recent Call of Duty, that won’t stop the company from churning out…
By Michael McWhertor Published April 28, 2010 -
Activision CEO Griffith Resigns From Post
No, it’s not what you think. Robert Kotick, CEO and president of Activision Blizzard, is still head of the world’s biggest third-party publisher. But one of his top men, Mike Griffith – CEO & president of Activision publishing – has resigned. He handed in his notice on April 23, meaning he’s no longer CEO or…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 28, 2010 -
Modern Warfare Developers Seek Half a Billion in Activision Suit UPDATE
A group of nearly 40 past and present Infinity Ward developers have banded together to file suit against the publishers of Modern Warfare 2 for half a billion dollars, alleging breach of contract and unpaid royalties, according to court documents obtained by G4 TV.com. The Infinity Ward Employee Group’s suit, which lists 38 plaintiffs including…
By Michael McWhertor Published April 27, 2010 -
Jazz Comes Late To The War For Cybertron Preorder Exclusive Party
It seems to me that you’d want to announce all of your retailer preorder exclusive items at the same time, to avoid shutting out one particular store, but here comes Jazz, ready to fight multiplayer battles for Best Buy customers. Activision revealed Shockwave as the GameStop preorder bonus multiplayer character for Transformers: War for Cybertron…
By Mike Fahey Published April 27, 2010 -
Eight More Leave Modern Warfare Developers, Bringing Total To 26
The exodus from Modern Warfare developers Infinity Ward continues at a breakneck pace, with news today that a further eight employees have left the studio in the wake of the “Legal Warfare” showdown. In addition to the five men who left on Friday, we’ve learned that three more – level designer Keith Bell, designer Charlie…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 27, 2010 -
Wu-Tang’s RZA Working On Game With Activision
RZA, one of rap group The Wu-Tang Clan’s more prominent members, has revealed over the weekend that he’s been working with video game publisher Activision on a new game. He doesn’t say what exactly the game is, but since there’s pics of him wearing motion-capture suits, we can assume it’s something he’d appear in as…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 26, 2010 -
Website Registrations Tease GoldenEye, Driver Sequel
It doesn’t mean such games are in development – at most the companies owning these marks have moved to protect them – but new domains for GoldenEye and Driver have been registered by Activision and Ubisoft. Superannuation, of course, discovered both this week. Most recently, the URLs goldeneyegame.com and bloodstonegame.com were registered on Wednesday. Bloodstone…
By Owen Good Published April 24, 2010 -
Seven Jump Ship To Form Modern Warfare Developer’s New Studio
It was only a matter of time. Having recently established a new studio to get away from former bosses Activision, Modern Warfare creators Vince Zampella and Jason West have wasted no time recruiting seven of their former Infinity Ward colleagues. Those seven are: – Todd Alderman, lead designer on Modern Warfare 2 – Mackey McCandlish,…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 23, 2010 -
Activision Dividing Modern Warfare 2’s Booty
Activision community man (and former games writer) Dan Amrich has taken to Facebook to chat with people about his employer’s recent public relations issues. I don’t think he’s helping things. Attempting to shed light on the legal mess surrounding the fate of bonus payments due to Infinity Ward staffers – especially deposed bosses Vince Zampella…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 22, 2010 -
Danica Patrick Enlightens Us on the Concept of ‘Power-Ups’
Indy’s It-girl Danica Patrick has a role in Activision’s Blur, which I didn’t know before today, and Danica’s giving interviews to highlight the fact gamers now race online “against people in different places,” which she didn’t know before today either. What’s more, “It’s not just cars against cars,” Patrick told USA Today. “It’s cars against…
By Owen Good Published April 21, 2010 -
Dodge Viper Or Ford Bronco? That Is The Blur Preorder Question
Bizarre Creations’ combat-racer Blur is coming May 25, and your choice of preorder locations determines which ride you’ll get early access to in online multiplayer, because everyone loves retailer-exclusive preorder bonuses, right? Durability is just as important in Blur racing as speed and style, so folks looking to put their money down on a copy…
By Mike Fahey Published April 21, 2010 -
Is This The Name Of The Bizarre New James Bond Racer?
Has British retailer HMV beaten Activision to the punch, revealing the name for Bizarre Creations new James Bond racing game to be James Bond: Bloodstone? Strategy Informer stumbled across this listing on High Street retailer HMV’s website for James Bond: Bloodstone, a driving/racing game for the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and PlayStation 3. Could this…
By Mike Fahey Published April 21, 2010 -
One Little Change To How Cars Will Fight
In our line of work here at Kotaku we see games early, before they come out. Sometimes these games change, before you play them the first time. Who is to say that a change is for the better? The developers, probably, who are among the only people participating obsessively with — playing — the game…
By Stephen Totilo Published April 20, 2010 -
Five Brave Attempts At The Modern Warfare Calamity Song
Kotaku readers braver than I am have dared to sing a song about the travails of Modern Warfare development studio Infinity Ward — and recorded themselves. Prepare to update your custom soundtracks, people. NOTE: These are not radio edits. Some curses included. Lyrics by Kotaku reader Blood Eden, set to The Fray’s How To Save…
By Stephen Totilo Published April 20, 2010 -
Tony Hawk’s Tony Hawk: Shred Outed By Tony Hawk
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk may have just officially sent the Activision PR team into a 720-degree tizzy, tweeting about Tony Hawk: Shred, quite possibly the more shred-tastic follow-up to the skateboard-as-controller experiment Tony Hawk: Ride. Mr. Hawk cryptically named something that we’re just wildly assuming is his next project by way of the Twitter, saying…
By Michael McWhertor Published April 19, 2010 -
Call of Duty Series to “Broaden” Its Audience
Video game publisher Activision released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 last year. It made over a billion dollars. Now Activision has decide it will make the series more accessible. Because over a billion dollars is not accessible. And not enough people read Harry Potter books. Have you ever seen Star Wars? Thomas Tippl, Activision’s…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 19, 2010