MW3Blog

Beachhead Studios recently released Content Collection 1 on Xbox Live. Shortly thereafter, Activision, and Sledgehammer Games held an event to promote Call of Duty: MW3′s Content Collection 1. The event featured NFL football players and ahem, Major Nelson was on hand to help ask NFL players questions about what they thought about MW3 and Content Collection in general. The video was published on Inside Xbox.

At Activision’s event in Los Angeles, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson interviewed Ahmad Bradshaw, a New York Giants player. NY Giants won the Super Bowl this year, so it’s a pretty big deal what he says. Anyway, let’s cut to the chase, shall we?

You can get the 6 maps from Xbox Live now. PS3 and PC gamers are going to have to wait for this collection to really enjoy it.

Activision & Beachhead Studios kicked off the Content Season in January. The first Content Drops were “Liberation” and “Piazza.” In February, the second Content Drop called “Overwatch” was released. A week ago, a trio of maps were released. They are called “Black Box,” a Multiplayer map, and two Spec Ops maps “Black Ice,” and “Negotiator.” All of these Content Drops so far have been released to Call of Duty Elite members, but what about those who don’t have a Call of Duty Elite subscription? Well, Activision is answering that question with a map pack of sorts.

On March 20th, which should be by the time you read this. You can purchase the Content Collection 1 on Xbox Live, and it’s being hailed as the “biggest Content Pack in Call of Duty history.” As you recall, COD4′s Variety Pack featured 4 maps, while most of MW2′s map packs had 5 maps each. Both MW2 map packs featured at least 2 re-made maps. This Content Collection of maps is full of fresh content.

Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games, and Raven Software talked about the Content Collection in their behind-the-scenes look at the package.

Shortly thereafter, Activision released a video showing off the contents of MW3 Collection 1. Enjoy!

Sorry, PlayStation 3 and PC gamers you’re going to have to wait a while for this content to arrive to your device.

Beachhead Studios has been on a roll lately with content drops as of late. In January, Beachhead released the first content drop called “Liberation,” and “Piazza.” Then in February, they dropped the second downloadable content. Recently, Activision released teasers for the third content drop called “Black Box”, and two Special Ops content drops called “Black Ice,” and “Negotiator.” This set of Elite Content Drops are headed to Xbox Live first on March 13th.

But, what about PlayStation 3 owners? Well, Activision recently dropped an e-mail to all Call of Duty Elite members saying that the Overwatch will arrive to PSN on March 29th. Not only that, MP1st got their hands on some juicy details about when Black Box and the Spec Ops missions would arrive for PS3 owners with a Call of Duty Elite subscription. MP1st said it would arrive around April 12th, if the [second] screencap mistake is anything to go by, that 4/12 date may not be the actual date. But it pinpoints when we can expect it.

I would like to point out that the content season will continue until the year is through:

January: Two Multiplayer maps
February: New map
March: New map, two new Spec Ops missions
April: Two new maps
May: New map, new Spec Ops mission
June: New map, new Spec Ops mission, new game mode
July: Two new maps
August: New map, new Spec Ops mission, new game mode
September: New map, new Spec Ops mission

If you’d like to know what I thought of the first two content drops “Liberation,” and “Piazza” head on over to this article I did.

Beachhead Studios has been on a roll lately with content drops as of late. In January, Beachhead released the first content drop called “Liberation,” and “Piazza.” Then in February, they dropped the second downloadable content. Recently, Activision released teasers for the third content drop called “Black Box”, and two Special Ops content drops called “Black Ice,” and “Negotiator.” This set of Elite Content Drops are headed to Xbox Live first on March 13th. Without further ado, the trailer is below…

As usual, PlayStation 3 and PC owners are going to have to wait. Sorry, but Activision and Microsoft signed a multi-year contract until this year.

Activision released Modern Warfare 3 and went on to break records at retail. By the weeks’ end, Modern Warfare 3 made 775 million dollars. There are millions of gamers online every day on Modern Warfare 3, and Activision planned months and years ahead of MW3 launch to make sure that Modern Warfare fans stay on the Call of Duty brand. Well, last month Activision released the first Content Drop for Xbox Live members it was called Liberation. This month, Activision unveiled Overwatch, a new map arriving to Xbox Live first.

Here’s a sneak peak of Overwatch in action:

The Second Content Drop heads to Xbox Live next week on February 21st. PC and PS3 owners are going to have to wait for this content drop until next month. Not everything about this drop is all bad news! PC and PS3 owners get the first Content Drop on February 28th. Get ready!

Activision released Modern Warfare 3 and went on to break records at retail. By the weeks’ end, Modern Warfare 3 made 775 million dollars. There are millions of gamers online every day on Modern Warfare 3, and Activision planned months and years ahead of MW3 launch to make sure that Modern Warfare fans stay on the Call of Duty brand. Activision created Beachhead Studios to create Call of Duty Elite, a digital distribution service aimed at Call of Duty fans, starting with MW3. Activision, and Beachhead Studios spent the majority of time between November 8th, 2011 to present to make sure that DLC launches go smoothly. There were some hitches at launch that delayed the founders’ earning of their titles.

To hype up the kick-off of the Content Season for MW3, on January 10th, Activision released a teaser video for the MW3 DLC:

Earlier today, Activision released a press release to celebrate the release of the MW3 DLC:

Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), has lit the fuse on the highly-anticipated Modern Warfare 3 Content Season for Call of Duty Elite, with the release of two all-new multiplayer maps, the opening salvo of nine consecutive months of downloadable content for Call of Duty Elite’s premium members on the Xbox LIVE online entertainment network for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

Call of Duty Elite Drop 1: Liberation, a militarized Central Park in the heart of NYC, featuring a vast landscape ripe for long-range sniper and LMG kills. Mounted turrets on opposing ends of the map offer overwhelming firepower to anyone brave enough to man them. Elite Drop 2: Piazza, set in an idyllic seaside village, Italian getaway gone rogue, where blind corners and a complex network of branching pathways pose danger at every turn. Visceral close-quarters combat dominates in Piazza, and attacks from above and below are an ever-constant threat.

To celebrate the launch of the new content drops on Xbox LIVE, Call of Duty Elite will run specialized community screen shot events highlighting the new maps through the end of the month, with real-world prizes on tap for winners.

Published by Activision and co-developed by three powerhouse studios — Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software — the Modern Warfare 3 Content Season will include an unprecedented breadth and variety of new content. Liberation and Piazza are the first two of twenty new Content Drops for Call of Duty Elite premium members, rolling out once a month throughout the nine-month DLC season. The Content Drops will be available for purchase by the entire Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 player community on Xbox LIVE in March, as part of the first Modern Warfare 3 Content Collection. The Content Drops will be available on additional platforms at a later time.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is rated “M” (Mature) by the ESRB for Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence and Strong Language. For more information on the Call of Duty: MW3 content drops, season of content, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty Elite visit www.callofduty.com/mw3 and www.callofduty.com/elite.

To become a Call of Duty Elite premium member and receive Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 content early, go to http://www.callofduty.com/elite/go-premium. For additional Call of Duty Elite updates and information, visit www.facebook.com/callofdutyelite, and also via Twitter @CallofDutyElite.

And so, without further ado, Activision released a video talking about the two DLC maps that are on Xbox Live:

Don’t worry PC gamers, and PlayStation 3 owners the maps will arrive shortly! In the meantime, why don’t you apply the new patch updates?

“The vet and the n00b” is a series of Live-Action videos that documents why it’s a better idea to be positioned as a vet. The first video has been aired on television since the Modern Warfare 3 launch on November 8th this year. However, Activision had nip the hilarious parts of the series from the airwaves. Instead, they posted it online for you to enjoy!

Introducing the trash talk segment of “the vet and the n00b” where the n00b tries to school the vet. And wins a silence. *Crickets*

In the next one, the vet and the n00b tries to battle against the legion of Call of Duty players until…..

….Awe. Man! Couldn’t Activision solve the host problem in there!? Gah! Frustrating!

Modern Warfare 3 was released worldwide on November 8th with record-shattering numbers. Activision then released numbers for the first week. They took in 775 million dollars at retail, then they revealed that they have one million Call of Duty Elite subscribers. [source] Now, Activision wants more.

Today, Activision released a trailer called “Play Together Better” to recruit more Call of Duty Elite members into the social network.

The video talks up the features of Call of Duty Elite, and in a subtle way, they advertised the competitions. You can win a trip to Paris, and other countries. See for yourself:

Are you going to join up on Call of Duty Elite? If not, why not? Tell us in the comments!

Modern Warfare 3 was released onto store shelves with record-breaking numbers. Some people already have gone through the single player story campaign, and have already beaten the game. Gamers are already asking: “What’s next for Call of Duty?” Oh, you mean, Modern Warfare.

Before you continue reading, make sure you played Modern Warfare 3′s story campaign. What I am about to discuss is the nature of the story. Spoilers ahead, you have been warned.

I’ll start from the beginning where cliffhangers begun. In Modern Warfare 2, there were few plot holes in the story: What did Makarov mean by “This isn’t just a message?” And where was Makarov when you [Joseph Allen] were shot by him. This cliffhanger hung over the remainder of the game. No closure, no ending, nothing. You killed Shepherd at the end, to be sure, but there were still questions.

It was answered in Modern Warfare 3 throughout the entire game. One in particular is towards the end of the game. You play as Yuri almost the entire game. Yuri was recruited to Task Force 141 based on trust by Soap. Yuri was helping Soap in the overwatch spot in a church, trying to help Price infiltrate the Hotel Lustig trying to get close to Kamarov. At that moment Makarov makes his appearance known. Makarov starts to call out Yuri, and both Yuri, Soap makes their escape.

It was only minutes later, Price gets enraged, and punches Yuri down the stairs. Price then starts asking “How does Makarov know you?” Yuri then starts having flashbacks starting from the attempted sniping of Imran Zakhaev, then the nuclear bomb that killed 30,000 Marines, however, he tried to stop the massacre at the Zakhaev International Airport in Moscow after being shot by Makarov. This plot twist makes everything seem like it makes sense.

Why? Because people complained about Modern Warfare 3′s graphics being “cut and paste” from Modern Warfare 2, and likewise a “new coat of paint.” But in reality, the developers was trying to keep the consistency intact. Notice that in the flashbacks, the graphics were all intact? We now have a new perspective in the COD4, and MW2 stories than we would have thought.

I don’t think MW3 was designed to be yet, another Modern Warfare game. A marketing gimmick, if you will. World War 3 was a major theme in MW3, and likewise a smart marketing move by Activision. I think Activision was trying to finish off the Modern Warfare story, to make way for a new trilogy in the Modern Warfare series. By doing this, Activision really have opened a door to a new trilogy, and by large: A new engine. There is no cliffhangers, everything is Case Closed.

The next Modern Warfare game is going to be a completely new game, a completely new story, a completely new engine. Everything wiped clean.

I have a feeling that the next Modern Warfare game is going to be on a new console, since we’re only a few years away from the next Xbox, or the next PlayStation console.

I wrote this article in light of people talking about possibilities of the next Call of Duty. Only after a week, people are already discussing the possibility of Modern Warfare 4? One story on our forums is calling COD4 “MW4.” See for yourself. People are questioning the future of Modern Warfare because there’s no indication of a sequel.

As reported before, Activision had broken day-one records with Modern Warfare 3. How about what did the first week sales look like for Modern Warfare 3? Activision posted a press release today talking about the sales metrics for Modern Warfare 3. Activision also received day-one metrics from Microsoft and SCEA about Xbox Live, and PlayStation Network total logins, and plays.

According to the stats given by Microsoft and SCEA, more and more people want to play an online Call of Duty game. Even more so a Modern War game. In the next few months, we’re going to see a rise in players since after all, Christmas is just around the corner.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Sets New Five-Day Entertainment Record Grossing More Than $775 Million Worldwide

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Becomes Best-Selling Video Game Launch of All Time at Each of the Top-Five Retailers in North America

Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), announced today that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has shattered theatrical box office, book and video game sales records for five-day worldwide sell-through in dollars. The game established an all-new five-day worldwide sell-through record of more than $775 million, exceeding the record of $650 million set a year ago by Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops and $550 million two years ago for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, according to Charttrack and retail customer sell-through information.

“With $775 million of sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in its first five days, Call of Duty has become the first entertainment property in history to set five-day launch records for three consecutive years across all forms of entertainment,” said Robert Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard. “Life-to-date retail sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded $6 billion worldwide, which makes Call of Duty one of the most valuable entertainment properties in the world. We expect continued sales momentum, as reviews and audience enthusiasm suggest that this is the best Call of Duty game that we have ever made. Online play for Modern Warfare 3 is at record levels and we continue to see high online play for both Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which ranked as the #2 and #4 top-played Xbox LIVE games for the week of November 7, according to Major Nelson.”

“As I have said all year, we have been singluarly focused on making a spectacular game for our fans, and nothing else. Our incredible teams at Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games have done just that,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO, Activision Publishing. “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 continues to thrill core gaming enthusiasts as well as draw new people into the medium, which is not an easy balancing act. But it takes more than a great game. I would also like to thank our incredible team for the pulling off the launch of the year, as well as our retail partners around the world. But most of all, I want to thank our fans. They are our toughest critics, and our biggest supporters, and none of this would be possible without them.”

In addition to beating all previous first-and five-day theatrical box office, book and video game sell-through records, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 set two new records on Xbox LIVE.

According to Microsoft:

1.  More than 7.0 million multiplayer hours were logged playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 by the end of launch day, November 8, a 19% increase over last year’s 5.9 million multiplayer hours logged playing Call of Duty: Black Ops last year’s launch day.
2. More than 3.3 million unique gamers played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in one day on November 8 up from 2.6 million unique gamers for Call of Duty: Black Ops.
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 set a new record for concurrent players on Xbox LIVE with 3.3 million simultaneous users on November 8.

“The Call of Duty franchise returned to Xbox 360 this year with another record-breaking launch. More than 7 million multiplayer hours were played on Modern Warfare 3 on day-one of launch on Xbox 360,” said Don Mattrick, president of the interactive entertainment business at Microsoft. “And with the exclusive first access to new multiplayer content, we’re proud Xbox 360 is home to the largest and most engaged Call of Duty community.”

The game also set a new franchise mark for the number of simultaneous online gamers playing Call of Duty on PlayStation Network on its first day, and was the best-selling video game launch of all time in North America on Amazon.com and at Best Buy, GameStop, Target and Walmart.

“In just over a week, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has been hugely successful on PlayStation 3, and continues to drive millions of gamers globally to PlayStation Network with its unprecedented and engaging online multiplayer experience,” said Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA). “The Call of Duty franchise is one of the biggest entertainment brands on the planet, delivering gameplay experiences like no other which is why we’re also excited to bring the Call of Duty franchise to our highly-anticipated next generation portable, PlayStation Vita, where we expect fans will continue their dedication to the most amazing Call of Duty experiences whether in the home or on the go.”

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is rated “M” (Mature) by the ESRB for Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence and Strong Language and is available now for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, and Windows PC. For more information visit www.callofduty.com/mw3 and www.callofduty.com/elite.

There has been rumors about a possible PlayStation Vita version. That had been speculation up until that press release up there. That alone confirms that PlayStation Vita is indeed getting a Call of Duty game. We don’t know what game it’s going to be at this point.

PlayStation Vita releases February 22nd, 2012 in the United States. There’s also no date for the Call of Duty game, so everything’s up in the air.