About a million dollars worth, actually. Activision and Metallica are teaming for a good cause and a selfish one, with the band headlining the publisher's Call of Duty: Black Ops launch party and finding unemployed military vets jobs.
The stars of Guitar Hero: Metallica will also be the stars of Activision's big promotional push for next week's big Call of Duty launch, raising $1 million USD for the Call of Duty Endowment, a benefit that "helps soldiers with the transition to civilian life and help them establish jobs and careers."
"We are honored to have Metallica partner with us to pay tribute to the brave servicemen and women who have risked their lives at war only to return home to find their biggest challenge is searching for a job," stated Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, while possibly throwing up devil horns. "Today, the unemployment rate for veterans is 21% higher than the rate for all Americans, with veterans' unemployment topping 500,000. We believe that the business community can and should do more."
Activision coughed up a similar donation last year at the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
While I'm sure the more cynical Call of Duty fan/Bobby Kotick hater will compare that donation to the billions of dollars the next Call of Duty game will reap for the publisher, a million bucks is nothing to sneeze at.