activision-blizzard posts

PC players of the hit first person shooter Call of Duty Black Ops got a triple amount of news to digest. The biggest is the long awaited release of the first downloadable map pack for the game via Steam, First Strike, which adds four new multiplayer maps and a new zombie co-op map to the Treyarch-developed game for $14.99.

The second bit of news is a new patch for the PC version. The patch notes go over what's included which includes "mproved stability for Zombies, Multiplayer, and Dedicated Servers". It also fixes a number of exploits in both multiplayer and zombie modes and adds a Dolly Cam editing mod in the game's Theater feature.

Finally PC gamers are now in a double XP weekend, allowing them to double the amount of experience points in Black Ops their player characters can generate in multiplayer modes.

The cancelation earlier this month of the open world crime action game True Crime Hong Kong by publisher Activision was expected to affect its developer United Front Games in terms of its personnel numbers. This week our sister site Joystiq confirmed from a rep from United Front Games that the Vancouver-based studio has experienced "a reduction in staff" due to the cancelation of the game.

While specific numbers were not provided Joystiq stated that activity on on the developer's LinkedIn web page indicates that at least 25 team members have been laid off. The rep did state that United Front Games is "still very much open for business and we will continue to ship top games."

It usually happens about this time every year and it looks like it may be happening again this year. No, not the start of spring training but the first glimpse of the next game in the Call of Duty shooter series. A new web site, Findmakarov.com, has been spotted with a countdown clock that would suggest something is going to happen on Wednesday.

The web site address suggests the reveal is linked to the Modern Warfare spin-off of Call of Duty (Vladimir Makarov is one of the series' main bad guys). That would also suggest the game that will be revealed on Wednesday will indeed be Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. At the moment publisher Activision has only officially said there will be some kind of Call of Duty game that is due out this fall.

[Via VG247.com]

Update: Activision is now telling our sister site Joystiq that it has nothing to do with the countdown web site, nor with the mailing of dogtags to members of the media. However the countdown clock is clearly for something; we just don't know what.

Call of Duty Black Ops players who have yet to unlock two of the game's zombie-based co-op maps will be able to play them this President's Day weekend. Activision just sent over word that the maps, Dead Ops Arcade and Five, will be made available to all players of the hit first person shooter from now through Monday.

Dead Ops Arcade lets players fight through traps and zombies while pursuing the Cosmic Silverback. The map known as Five has the players take on the role of the real life 1960s Cold War political/military figures John F. Kennedy, Robert McNamara, Fidel Castrol and Richard Nixon as they fight off a zombie breach in the Pentagon. The PC version of the game has also gotten a patch update today that fixes a couple of minor issues.

[Via email press release]

Today is officially the last day of operations for UK-based developer Bizarre Creations, according to the Develop web site. The developer of such PC games as The Club, Blur and James Bond 007 Blood Stone got notice from its owner Activision that it would be either sold or shut down back in November. Earlier this year Activision announced that it could not find a buyer for the developer which meant that over 200 people are now looking for new jobs.

A now former member of Bizarre Creations has created a video showcasing the developer's games but in a very touching and sad way. You can check out the trailer after the jump:

[Via VG247.com]

When word got out earlier this week that Activision Blizzard had decided to cancel its planned release of True Crime Hong Kong, many wondered what would become of United Front Games, the Vancouver-based developer who was making the open world crime action game for the PC and other platforms.

While there is no official word if the developer had layoffs as a result of the cancellation, United Front Games' web site has posted up a statement about Activision Blizzard's decision:

We are sorry we did not get a chance to complete this project with Activision, but we understand why. We are both committed to doing quality games and nothing less. Maybe we will have a chance to work together in the future, but in the meantime we are setting our creative sights on a different horizon. You can keep up with the latest developments at UFG here on our site.

Diablo 3 was the subject of some internet buzz earlier this week as publisher Activision Blizzard hedged its bets on predicting when Blizzard's long awaited action-RPG sequel would finally be be released. The company announced on Wednesday that its financial predictions currently don't include a release of Diablo 3 by the end of 2011.

However, when asked by Kotaku if Diablo 3 would in fact be out by the end of 2011 Blizzard co-founder and president Michael Morhaime replied, "We really, really hope so. That's our goal." He added, "We're going to promise, we're going to get it out there when it's awesome. And, we're crossing our fingers, maybe it will be this year." However he also said, "But you know, at the end of the day, we are going to get it right. That's more important."

In May 2009, Morhaime made a similar statement when he told investors just before E3 that Blizzard hoped to get StarCraft II out by the end of that year. Just a few months later, however, Blizzard announced that the game would not make it out by the end of 2009. It ended up being released in late July 2010.

While Activision Blizzard may be laying off 500 workers and shutting down at least one of its studios, the publisher may be planning to make a big move to buy rival Take Two Interactive. MCV reports that according to an unnamed but "senior executive" , the takeover talk comes from "very strong rumours amongst people at a very senior level within the global business."

Take Two Interactive previously was the target of a hostile takeover by Electronic Arts which it successfully fought and won out in 2008. A merger between Activision Blizzard and Take Two would create the biggest third party game publisher in the world.

[Via Blue's News]

Diablo III fans who were hoping that the long awaited action-RPG sequel from Blizzard would be released in 2011 will not be happy with today's news. During Activsion Blizzard's conference call with investors today, execs said that projected earnings for the publisher don't include the release of Diablo III during 2011.

That means that while the game might still make it out this year the publisher doesn't want to take any chances and promise a 2011 release date for the game and then have the game be delayed into 2012. Activision did say that if a delay happens than there will likely be two Blizzard games out in 2012. It's not clear if the second Blizzard game would be a new World of Warcraft expansion pack or StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. During the Q&A Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime stated only that development of the game was going well and that more info on the title, including when the Diablo III beta will begin, will be announced in the future.

During today's quarterly conference call with investors, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick announced plans to launch a new development studio, Beachhead, that would in some way be linked to the company's Call of Duty shooter franchise. During the conference call Activision execs stated that Beachhead would be in charge of "the development of an innovative new digital platform and special services for our Call of Duty community."

Specifics about this new studio and the kinds of services it would bring to Call of Duty players have yet to be announced. If this service comes to the PC version of the game we wonder how it will affect Activision's deal with Valve to offer Steamworks features like achievements, leaderboards and more to the PC ports of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty Black Ops.

In the same conference call Activision announced plans to release a free-to-play Call of Duty game for China but details and a release date were not announced.