Call of Duty - Page 84 of 88

Modern Warfare Developer Loses Two More Key Players

Despite rumours of Call of Duty developers being “held hostage” over withheld bonus payments, it nevertheless looks like more of those involved with the series have begun to leave Infinity Ward following the sacking of the studio’s founders As revealed by the pair’s Linkedin profiles (pictured below), Todd Alderman, a Lead Designer and one of…

By Luke Plunkett Published April 5, 2010

Where Posters, Packaging & Box Art Comes From

A few weeks ago, I did a feature on a company that’s responsible for game logos and box art. Today, then, I thought we’d look at something similar: a company that does box art and marketing material. The artwork you’ll see in this post is the work of British firm Head First, an agency that…

By Luke Plunkett Published March 30, 2010

Modern Warfare 2 DLC Ad Takes Some Liberties

There’s something fishy about this commercial for the upcoming Modern Warfare 2 map pack. Namely, that these sure as hell aren’t the kind of people I run into playing the game. Compared to the community’s juvenile, angry, foul-mouthed status quo, these “mapathy sufferers” – who are capable of more emotions than just sarcasm and fury…

By Luke Plunkett Published March 24, 2010

Gamer Takes On Real Soldier At Modern Warfare 2

Let’s say someone built a replica of Modern Warfare 2’s training level, “The Pit”. And then felt like challenging a real soldier to go through it, while they played the level on computer. Fancy watching? Oh yeah. We featured this level a few weeks ago, built for a challenge on a British TV show. Well,…

By Luke Plunkett Published March 24, 2010

Capt. Mario Answers The Call Of Duty

Mario as veteran spec ops commando and Peach as kidnappable scientist in “Super Mario Warfare” by the talented and regularly featured Agent Scarlet, as seen at DeviantArt via GameFreaks. (Thanks, Morris!)

By Michael McWhertor Published March 16, 2010

Brits Build Real Life Modern Warfare 2 Level

The team from Britain’s FiveFWD gadget show were feeling crafty the other day, so went and built themselves a full-scale replica of “The Pit”, Modern Warfare 2’s training area. That in itself would normally be good enough, but for next week’s program, presenter Jason Bradbury will go one better and race a real special forces…

By Luke Plunkett Published March 16, 2010

Call of Duty For The Rest Of Them

There are people who can’t play Call of Duty. Maybe, according to a flight of fancy proposed last week at the Game Developers Conference, those people could at least help us CoD players out. The theory was explained during a panel at GDC 2010 entitled Sporadic Play: The History And Future Of Making Games For…

By Stephen Totilo Published March 15, 2010

Modern Warfare 2 Map Pack Also Features Ridiculous Price

Capping off a fairly terrible fortnight of news surrounding Call of Duty developers Infinity Ward comes word this morning that Modern Warfare 2’s map pack is one of the most over-priced pieces of downloadable content we’ve ever seen. Popping onto Xbox Live spokesman Larry Hryb’s podcast to promote Modern Warfare 2’s upcoming “Stimulus Package” map…

By Luke Plunkett Published March 15, 2010

Video Games’ Team Coco Moment

Billions of dollars? Got it. “Astonishing arrogance and unbridled greed“? Alleged. Video games are so close to being Hollywood, that we must celebrate a breakthrough: A possibly boring contract dispute that could be as juicy as Leno vs. Conan. We’ve got an executive that the Internet fans love to hate We’ve got not one, but…

By Stephen Totilo Published March 5, 2010

Activision “Disappointed” By Infinity Ward Founders’ “Meritless” Lawsuit

The world’s biggest video game publisher doesn’t take allegations of “Orwellian” investigations and unfair dismissals in silence. Activision has responded to the lawsuit filed by Jason West and Vince Zampella, the ousted former heads of Modern Warfare 2-maker Infinity Ward. “Activision is disappointed that Mr. Zampella and Mr. West have chosen to file a lawsuit,…

By Stephen Totilo Published March 4, 2010

Ex-Infinity Ward Heads Claim “Orwellian” Moves By Activision

The lawsuit filed against Activision by two ex-Infinity Ward leads alleges that the publisher of its Modern Warfare games carried out an “Orwellian,” “pre-ordained” investigation designed to “manufacture a basis to fire” them in order to avoid paying them bonuses. That suit, filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court on March 3, was filed by…

By Michael McWhertor Published March 4, 2010

Where To Next For Call Of Duty?

The writing is on the wall. With Infinity Ward’s leadership removed, and Activision announcing a raft of new titles, the market is about to be saturated with Call of Duty games. So we figured we’d lend a hand. Rather than simply release an endless stream of World War 2 games, which is what ruined Medal…

By Luke Plunkett Published March 3, 2010

Infinity Ward Still “Central To Call Of Duty’s Future”

While something rotten has definitely gone down between publishers Activision and the bossmen of Call of Duty developers Infinity Ward, it seems the studio itself is still a key part of the franchise moving forward. An internal memo distributed to members of Infinity Ward earlier today says that while the “brains” of the operation, Vince…

By Luke Plunkett Published March 3, 2010

Activision’s New Plans For Call of Duty Include New Developer, New Genres

Publisher Activision announced today new “strategic plans” for the Call of Duty franchise, announcing a new developer for the shooter franchise and confirming the departure of key Infinity Ward staffers. Activision announced it will form a “dedicated [Call of Duty] business unit that will bring together its various new brand initiatives with focused, dedicated resources…

By Michael McWhertor Published March 2, 2010

Infinity Ward Vs. Activision: The Battle For Creative Direction

Simmering problems between Activision and Modern Warfare 2 development studio Infinity Ward — involving the creative direction of the Call of Duty series — may have come to a head with yesterday’s dismissal of IW’s two studio heads. The reasons for the dismissal of Jason West and Vince Zampella, the top two men at Infinity…

By Stephen Totilo Published March 2, 2010

Guess Which Three Games Help Keep Activision Afloat

Activision is a giant company with a small problem: Most of their revenue comes from three video games. Buried in Activision’s annual report for Fiscal Year 2009, the same one that had news of a major shake-up at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward, were some interesting numbers. “A significant portion of our…

By Brian Crecente Published March 2, 2010

Report: Modern Warfare Dev Head Leaves Company

According to his Linkedin page, CEO and Studio Head of Infinity Ward Vince Zampella has parted ways with the Call of Duty developer, as the strange goings-on at the development studio continue. Keen-eyed Kotaku reader Sam passed along a link to Zampella’s Linkedin page this morning, showing that the employment status had changed to TBD…

By Mike Fahey Published March 2, 2010

Scandal Hits Call Of Duty Devs: What We Know [Update]

While most of you slept, drama struck Infinity Ward, the creators of the Call of Duty series, with allegations of “insubordination” from publishers Activision and the rumoured departure of the studio’s two top men. This post will be updated throughout the day. The news first hit yesterday afternoon, when G4 reported that IW heads Vince…

By Luke Plunkett Published March 2, 2010

Déjà Vu Surrounds Infinity Ward Rumors

Strange, hazy things are happening at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward. This wouldn’t be the first time for the studio. In 2002, nearly a dozen developers walked out of Tulsa-based studio 2015, the team behind the PC game Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Rumor has it that the developers did not want…

By Brian Ashcraft Published March 2, 2010

Report: Strange Things Are Afoot At Infinity Ward; President Ousted?

Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward is now home to a very strange, currently very unclear story, as G4 reports that security guards have stormed the developer, with studio heads currently missing in action. While that all sounds like scary stuff, there’s very little in the way of actual detail here. Infinity Ward leads Vince…

By Michael McWhertor Published March 1, 2010