So I went down to the official Modern Warfare 3 launch in London (Oxford Street) on Monday evening, and to be fair Activision and Microsoft put on a good show, I just couldn’t help but feel EA missed a trick here. As you do at these launches, I got talking with some friends in the queue and thought that it would have been awesome to see EA make an appearance in some capacity, to crash the party so to speak, which got me thinking.

I wanted a repeat of this

How awesome would it have been, with like thirty minutes to go before the clock strikes twelve, to pull up on Oxford Street, theme blaring, with soldiers jumping out the Battlefield 3 tank (they brought one along with them to the launch two weeks ago), handing out free copies to everyone in line (around 750 people)? Totally stealing the show away from Activision in the process.

Now, it would be stupid to assume gamers would walk away from the queue they’ve been standing in for hours, go home with their new copy of Battlefield 3 and live happily ever after, but putting copies of the competition in the hands of the competitor’s user base wouldn’t have been a bad thing – would it? Some might already own Battlefield 3 yes, but for a lot of people in that queue Modern Warfare 3 will be one of the only gaming purchases they’ll make this year – trust me I was there. Better yet, a stunt like that would get people talking, tweeting and definitely steal at least a bit of the limelight away from Activision’s money making machine, especially on the gaming sites and in the morning papers. Who knows, you might even get some converts from it. If not for the new players a stunt like that would bring in, it’s something that would have been worth the press alone right?

Going off EA’s aggressive marketing prior to the game’s release, I, for one wouldn’t have put it past them, and with thirty minutes left to go I was still checking my watch like an anxious kid, waiting for EA to land one final blow. Unfortunately, this never happened

As expected, Call of Duty: Elite was formally unveiled this morning when the press embargo was lifted. The service will be free to all Call of Duty players but will offer additional content to those members who are paid subscribers. While Activision was mum on a price point for Elite, some details have emerged of what exactly users can expect to see once the service launches on November 8, 2011. If you can’t wait for the big launch, Activision and Beachhead studios will be launching a Beta program this summer that will allow gamers to preview Elite with Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Check out a breakdown of a few of the features that will be available through Call of Duty: Elite after the jump.

Elite will be available through the web and within the game on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. The service will also launch with a mobile app, which will offer all of the features available in the web and console version. Thus far, four sections of the service have been previewed by some select members of the press: Career, Connect, Compete and Improve.

Career

In the Career section of Call of Duty: Elite, players will get to see an overview of game statistics, recent performances, win/loss ratio, experience points, personal bests, weapon performances, and leaderboards. You will be able to easily compare your performances against your friends or other members by simply typing in a username.

Connect

Connect gives users easy access to other players and lets you find specific gametypes that you want to try. You can look for your favorite playlists or gametype, see others who like the specific gametype you’re looking at and then create a match. Connect will also include a theater section where you will be able to create videos of your game performance and share it with others. Think Forge.

Your friends’ list will be integrated into the Connect section to streamline the whole process of creating a match. The section will also feature a Facebook-esque groups option, which will allow members to create and manage their own gaming circles. Group pages will also give players the ability to leave comments on the page, as well as add closed leaderboards just for the members of that specific group.

Compete

This section of Elite is Beachhead’s tournament management service and will offer players the opportunity to compete for actual physical prizes. Details are sparse as of now on how Call of Duty: Elite will support private clans, but this section will surely incorporate support for organizing tournaments between groups, clans, and intra-clan tournaments.

Improve

This portion of the service breaks down gameplay and supposedly helps you become better at Call of Duty online. Players will be able to view detailed images of any map marked up with starting points and objectives, weapons, killstreaks, and provide video guides for those looking to polish their skills.

So What Now?

Activision and Beachhead Studios are certainly taking a risky bet by changing the Call of Duty online mold. The big question that remains unanswered is what the price point will be once Elite launches this fall. However it turns out, it does seem that Activision is confident in its decision to give the go ahead on the online service. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Activision Chief Executive Bobby Kotick remarked, “Call of Duty” is in a unique position to seek a monthly fee from customers. The game’s previous installment, set during the Cold War and called “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” was the best-selling game last year, with global retail sales of more than $1 billion during its first six weeks on shelves.”

Just hours before an agreed upon embargo is lifted, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Activision’s new Beachhead studios will be revealing the long rumored Call of Duty subscription service. Dubbed Call of Duty: Elite, the service will work alongside this fall’s Modern Warfare 3 and will be included in all future installments of the franchise.

While there is no word of a price point in the article, Activision executives speaking with the Wall Street Journal said that, “they expect the cost to be less than fees for comparable online-entertainment services, such as a 7.99-a-month Netflix Inc. movie subscription.” Important to note is that this is not a pay wall. Neither the game’s multiplayer mode or Call of Duty: Elite itself will cost players a monthly fee. Instead, portions of Elite will be free and additional content will be offered to subscribers.

Some time after the Wall Street Journal article went live a video of what appears to be the official Call of Duty: Elite trailer was leaked. In addition to confirming that the Call of Duty: Black Ops will also be receiving the Elite treatment, the trailer details the services that will be offered to subscribers. Elite will allow users to form Facebook-like groups with other users, track personal game statistics, and receive detailed analyses of your match performance. Interestingly, the trailer also reveals that the service will offer leagues and tournaments that will reward players with “real prizes.”

You can expect to hear much more about the Activision’s new service bright and early at 9:00AM EST. Personally, I’m interested to see just how Call of Duty: Elite will differentiate itself from certain other FPS giant’s similar offerings.

Source – WSJ

We all knew it was inevitable. Just as you can count on death and taxes, Activision will be releasing a new Call of Duty title this fall and there is nothing you can do about it.

Eurogamer has heard from multiple sources that the new Call of Duty game, thought to be Modern Warfare 3, will launch on November 8, 2011. It is reported that an internal Tesco database refers to the game as “Call of Duty: Project Colossus.” This news comes hot off the heels of a recently released image in Official PlayStation Magazine UK that seemingly confirms the next Modern Warfare is right around the corner.

Activision will be holding an investors conference later this afternoon and will be revealing their financial results for Q1 2011. It is rumored that more information about the next Call of Duty title will be revealed during the conference.

Alright, who’s surprised?

Source – Eurogamer

According to the latest issue of Official Playstation Magazine, “the biggest game in the world” will be returning soon. Yes folks, you guessed it, Modern Warfare 3 is right around the corner.

What? You didn’t honestly think EA’s Battlefield 3 would go without any competition from the Call of Duty franchise, did you? I’m sure we can expect to hear more at E3 next month with the inevitable multimillion-dollar advertising storm shortly after that.

Treyarch’s studio head Mark Lamia kicked off the Microsoft briefing today with a deeper look inside Call of Duty: Black Ops. Along with a brand new E3 trailer for the game, actual gameplay footage ranging from a dramatic tunnel crawl to a Hind helicopter assault was shown off.

After the quick demonstration, Microsoft’s Senior Vice President of Interactive Entertainment, Don Mattrick, took the stage to announce a brand new agreement between Activision and Microsoft that will make all Call of Duty DLC timed exclusives until 2012.

Call of Duty: Black Ops is slated for a November 9th release date in the UK and US.

The Blur Multiplayer Demo, previously an early exclusive to beta players, is now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace for the rest of us mere mortals. For those that missed out on the beta the first time around, you no longer have an excuse. What are you waiting for?

Those eager to drop £10($15) on Modern Warfare 2’s first set of downloadable content were reporting issues with loading maps and downloading the new DLC early this morning. Though there were a few hiccups with the new DLC, Major Nelson has confirmed the Stimulus Package is now available for download and working normally. The map pack includes three new multiplayer maps and two reworked maps veterans of the first Modern Warfare will recognize all for the controversial price of 1200 MS Points.

Enjoy it, that is if you can justify that price point.

According to G4 some strange things are going down at the studio behind Modern Warfare 2 – Infinity Ward. Apparently the relationship between Infinity Ward and Activision has been pretty “tense” as of lately – tell us something we don’t know. Studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West haven’t been seen since they met with Activision earlier this morning and the staff are described as “on edge”.

The source went on to inform that a “bunch of bouncer-types” stormed the developer unannounced, unwilling to disclose who they were or why they were there. Details are all a bit vague at the moment and if you ask me, this all sounds too surreal. Rest assured we’ll keep you updated once we learn more.

UPDATE:
Going by his latest tweets, Infinity Ward’s Creative Strategist Robert Bowling hasn’t outrightly spoke on the matter, at the same time he hasn’t exactly denied it. Stay tuned.

UPDATE 2:
Ok things are really getting weird now. Apparently Jason West’s LinkedIn profile indicates he’s no longer working for Infinity Ward and his account now lists his position in the company as “past”. According to 1UP, one of their own sources inside Infinity Ward has said that Activision is “flexing their muscles” against the studio, attempting to “push back against change.”.

Even stranger is this, supposedly found on his Facebook page.

Could this all be real? Could Infinity Ward’s President have been let go? Correct me if I’m wrong but all this drama has got to be a first in the video game industry.