Activision Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Xbox players switch on their console, the first thing they see is a prompt to purchase Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and some people have not reacted well to this splash screen.“Fight against the ultimate threat. Play the Campaign now.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 crossover microtransaction isn’t so micro. The B.E.A.S.T. Glove melee weapon costs £67.88 in COD Points, more than the game itself.The B.E.A.S.T.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 patch notes detail how the powerful Longbow sniper rifle has been nerfed.In the new update, the Longbow has had its hipfire spread benefit removed and its aim down sight time increased from 390ms to 470ms, a whopping 21 percent increase. These changes appear to have been made to reduce the sniper rifle’s effectiveness at close ranges.

Toys For Bob, the developer of Crash Bandicoot 4 and the remastered Spyro collection, has confirmed it’s going independent.Toys For Bob was founded in 1989 before being acquired by Activision in 2005, where they worked on Skylanders. As well as heading up a number of sequels, Toys For Bob also developed Crash Bandicoot 4 and was behind 2018’s Spyro Reignited Trilogy.As part of the recent wave of layoffs at Activision Blizzard, Toys For Bob lost 89 members of staff and saw the closure of their Californian offices.In a new blog post though, Toys For Bob has confirmed it has broken away from Activision.

Microsoft has confirmed that Diablo 4 will be the first Activision Blizzard title to come to Xbox Game Pass.Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard was finally approved in October 2023 after being announced in January 2022 via a deal thought to be worth £50billion.Now the first of Microsoft’s new franchises is coming to its subscription-based Game Pass service. Head of Xbox Sarah Bond confirmed the news during an official Xbox podcast last night (February 15).Diablo 4 will be available to play via Game Pass from March 28 and is said to be the first of multiple Activision and Blizzard-developed titles coming to the service.Elsewhere in the podcast, Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced that Game Pass now had 34million “fully paid” subscribers compared to 25million in 2022.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is to leave his role next week.Kotick became CEO of Activision in 1991 after purchasing a 25 per cent share in the near-bankrupt company the previous year. Over the next 32 years, he headed up the company as it grew to become one of the biggest and most influential pillars in the world of video games, acquiring a number of other studios on the way.However, it was claimed Kotick knew about cases of sexual misconduct happening within the company and kept it secret, even after state regulators started investigating the company in 2018.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3‘s campaign is reportedly three to four hours long, and the length of that campaign versus previous campaigns is being debated by the fans.Early access for the game’s single-player is active now for those who have pre-ordered Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. As such, spoilers are running rampant on social media, as well as conversation on the campaign’s apparent length.“It took me 4 hours and I was attempting to stealth all the open combat missions and looking for extra equipment,” said one player on Reddit.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is surpassing 200GB in size, and Activision has explained that this is thanks to the “increased amount of content” available in this entry.To compare, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was 125GB on PC. Other titles don’t even come close to Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Final Fantasy 15 was 148GB, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2 were 150GB, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was 155GB, all at launch and on PC.However, Activision and Sledgehammer Games stated that they are trying to slim the total install size down through “ongoing optimisation efforts”.#MW3 is almost here.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 appears to have been added to a PS5 Slim bundle for free, arriving in time for the game’s anticipated launch.Announced in October, the PS5 Slim will use the same specifications as the original console, bar the 1TB solid state drive (SSD). The newer version also offers an optional detachable disc drive sold separately for £99.99 ($79.99) as well as a vertical stand costing £24.99 ($29.99).The PS5 Slim is starting to be sold this month and Sony‘s intention is that this will be the only console model on sale once stocks of the 2020 model dry up.Per new Call of Duty ads, the PlayStation 5 Slim Disc Edition – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III console bundle will be $499.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Call of Duty and Universal Music announced a secret Chase & Status gig with 25 tickets for fans to win.Hosted in London, and accordingly titled LDN Calling, Chase & Status and DJ Bou have tasked fans with three missions to complete before October 31.Every completed mission increases an entrant’s likelihood of winning a ticket, and they will be able to invite a plus one along with them.All three missions will be released through the mission hub and announced through the band’s and Bou’s social channels.As well as the opportunity to attend an exclusive concert in a secret location somewhere in London, the event will offer fans the ability to play Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 ahead of everyone else.

Microsoft‘s Phil Spencer has shared that special Call Of Duty content or events on Xbox would exclude the rest of the “Call Of Duty nation”, and therefore is not a part of the company’s plans for the series.On October 13, the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft was finalised, passing on properties like Crash Bandicoot, Diablo, Overwatch and World Of Warcraft as well as the immensely popular shooter series to the corporation.In spite of repeated insistences from Microsoft that it would not exclude players on other platforms from the future of Call Of Duty, there were still some concerns from fans.Spencer addressed these in the latest episode of the official Xbox podcast, reiterating that exclusive content for Xbox is not in Microsoft’s vision for the series (via Video Games Chronicle).“For Call of Duty players on PlayStation, and in the future Nintendo, I want you to feel 100 per cent a part of the community,” said the CEO.“I don’t want you to feel like there’s content you’re missing out, skins you’re missing out, there’s timing that you’re missing out on… that’s not the goal.”Historically, the series has prioritised those on PlayStation – Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 offered players exclusive monthly double experience point events, weapon bonuses when playing in parties with other PlayStation players, and additional loadout slots, to name a few features.This will not be replicated in future entries on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will see the return of classics Pack-A-Punch, Perk Colas, the Mystery Box, Wonder Weapon and more in an entirely new twist on the mode.Revealed in Call Of Duty Next, the trailer set the scene for Operation Deadbolt and the continuation of the Dark Aether storyline that originated in Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 and was last seen in Call Of Duty: Vanguard.Check out the trailer below.As an open world outing, developer Treyarch aimed to deliver the “largest Zombies offering to date” and confirmed that there are other antagonists as well as the undead.Players will mow down scores of Zombies in waves that are much greater in number than before, but multiple squads will be let loose to curtail the threat.Moreover, the Pack-a-Punch Machine will be back, allowing players to upgrade their weapons in exchange for Essence.Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on November 10.There are two editions available for pre-order – the Standard edition and the Vault edition.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer trailer has shown off the modernised versions of original maps like Rust, High Rise and Terminal in action.The latest trailer for the multiplayer mode of the upcoming game revealed the selection of 16 maps that have been revamped for more modern players. All of these will be available at launch and attempt to marry the nostalgia of the originals with a number of changes to allow for new tactical opportunities.

Activision is set to show off the new map for Call Of Duty: Warzone in the upcoming Call of Duty: Next livestream.Per the publisher’s post to X/Twitter, the event will include a new look at Zombies in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, its other multiplayer modes and new Call Of Duty: Warzone Mobile content.From the looks of it, the map is a port with several container cranes situated along the dockside stretch.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 may include multiple missions that mimic the structure of “No Russian”, which was one of the most controversial moments in the series.“No Russian” featured in the original Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and involved the player actively participating in an act of terrorism. At the time, Activision employees were split over the content of the mission which saw civilian characters killed in a mass shooting started by Vladimir Makarov and his ultranationalist allies.Something similar to “No Russian” showed up in the reveal trailer for the new Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, thereby tying into the post-credits scene of the previous game too.Now, Eurogamer has reported that the Entertainment Software Ratings Board has registered the game, giving it a “Mature 17+” rating.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has promised the “largest Zombies offering to date” and the latest trailer showing off its open world seems to be delivering on that statement.A team of multi-national Operators will assist the members of Task Force 141 in the fight against the undead, with this cinematic trailer setting the scene for how the infection starts and spreads. Check it out below:“Combining the very best of Modern Warfare map features and systems with the tried-and-true core features of Treyarch Zombies, Modern Warfare Zombies presents an all-new twist on the fan-favourite third game mode, launching alongside the Campaign and Multiplayer when Modern Warfare 3 releases,” said Activision in a post to the Call Of Duty blog.As well as special story missions, Zombies will immerse players in open-world regions that will become more and more challenging as they progress through Operation Deadbolt.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Activision has announced that it is using an AI moderation tool.Working with Modulate, a start-up that developed the advanced AI technology ToxMod, the publisher explained that it will use this tool to “identify in real-time” offenders in the game. ToxMod flags “hate speech, discriminatory language, harassment and more” to the moderation systems that the Call Of Duty anti-toxicity team already has active.Firstly, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call Of Duty: Warzone 2.0 will add the AI moderation tool in an “initial beta rollout”.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will not include all Operators from Modern Warfare 2 in its multiplayer modes, announced publisher Activision.“From special guest Operators in Season 05 Reloaded to the BlackCell and Battle Pass offerings and even launch day favourites like Hutch, Horangi, Nova, and Stiletto, nearly every Operator from Modern Warfare 2 can be used in Modern Warfare 3 Multiplayer and Zombies,” said Activision in a post to the official Call Of Duty blog.“Whether you earned them or recruited them via Store Bundle, stack up those Operators to show them off today and in Modern Warfare 3,” the publisher summarised. Yet, with no specifics on which Operators are and are not heading over to the sequel, players might not want to spend their Call Of Duty Points.Previously, Activision had announced that “a small amount of content may be unavailable if gameplay offerings are different” and that war tracks would not transfer over to the new game.Fortunately though, the rest of the Modern Warfare 2 content would be included in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in its “carry forward” feature.

Nicki Minaj is now a playable character in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2, and her special finishing move is stepping on enemies in her sky-high heels.In July, Activision announced that the rapper as well as 21 Savage and Snoop Dogg would be added to the battle royale to celebrate fifty years of hip hop. Minaj’s arrival is significant for another separate reason, though – she is the first “self-named female Operator” in the history of Call of Duty.

latest trailer for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 out now, players are worried that several central characters will be killed off in the third entry of the rebooted series.The scene in the trailer that got fans talking was Captain Price slumped to the ground with Sergeant Kyle “Gaz” Garrick yelling, “We need medevac now!” Additionally, slow-mo shots of characters like Commander Farah Karim, Sergeant Johnny “Soap” MacTavish, Lieutenant Simon “Ghost” Riley and Gaz to a cover of of Blue Öyster Cult’s ‘Don’t Fear The Reaper’ seem to suggest that all of them are equally at risk of dying. Check out the trailer below:In the original Modern Warfare 2, General Shepherd, Ghost, Sergeant Gary “Roach” Sanderson and Private Joseph Allen are killed off, with Ghost and Roach’s deaths being the most memorable for fans.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will let Modern Warfare 2 players transfer their cosmetic content over to the new game as part of Activision‘s “carry forward” approach.The majority of “weapons and cosmetic content, including Bundles, Operators, and other rewards and unlocks from the game” will be accessible in Modern Warfare 3 even if the player unlocked these items in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 or Call Of Duty: Warzone.Naturally, there is no “carry back” from Modern Warfare 3 to Modern Warfare 2, however, Activision hopes that players will be happy with the way that “carry forward” gets them into the game as soon as possible.“Expect your available arsenal to combine weapons from both Modern Warfare titles, giving you a massive repository of armaments ready to use on day one!” it said on its official website.Two caveats are that “a small amount of content may be unavailable if gameplay offerings are different” in the next game, and war tracks will not transfer over. “For example, if MW3 doesn’t have the Tactical Amphibious Vehicle, or a specific piece of Tactical or Lethal Equipment in any game modes, any Skins you’ve unlocked for these items in MW2 won’t be in MW3,” explained Activision.The most recent trailer for Modern Warfare 3 revealed Makarov, the notorious villain from the original version of the game, as well as the “No Russian” mission.“No Russian” was subjected to intense criticism due to the fact that the player is forced to participate in a terrorist attack that kills a huge number of civilians in an airport.Modern Warfare 2‘s post-credits scene showed passengers putting together 3D-printed pistols with one of them confirming their readiness to someone named “M”.

Call Of Duty is titled Modern Warfare 3 and it’ll be released later this year.The Modern Warfare 3 trailer, which arrived yesterday (August 7,) does not give a lot away about the game. Red waveforms of audio then split into black needles forming different images, like a dagger through a cat’s skull, Captain Price and Commander Philip Graves.

Activision announced that Nicki Minaj, Snoop Dogg and 21 Savage will be playable Operators in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone in their fifth season of content.On the launch of Season 5, only Snoop Dogg will be available to play whereas Nicki Minaj and 21 Savage are scheduled to arrive at a later date. Minaj will be Call of Duty’s first-ever self-named female Operator, noted Activision, and 21 Savage’s in-game look is under lock and key at the moment.Snoop Dogg first entered the series in a Call of Duty: Ghosts Multiplayer Voice Pack to narrate the matches for players.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 appears to be the next entry in the series according to new branding for an energy drink that was circulated on social media site X.The images, that were shared by Call Of Duty specialist site Charlie Intel, show new Monster Energy boxes that featured Captain John Price and a logo for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Call Of Duty games will be available to play on PlayStation, as announced by head of Xbox brand Phil Spencer in a tweet.“We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call Of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard,” said Spencer yesterday (July 16). “We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favourite games.”We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and @PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Call Of Duty: Warzone 2.0.Ashika Island arrived yesterday (February 15) as part of Warzone 2.0‘s delayed second season. Players also saw the return of 1v1 Gulag in Battle Royale mode, difficulty tuning, a new Exclusion Zone for DMZ, plus DMZ looting and loadout changes.However, YouTuber Geeky Pastimes has already discovered one of Ashika Island’s hidden easter eggs that combines a typically-relaxing pastime with the chance to get impressive loot.You can go fishing in Warzone, and even feed a fake seal.Here's how!https://t.co/2AYWJgOOLd pic.twitter.com/IjtmTEsIl9— Geeky Pastimes (@geekypastimes) February 15, 2023As reported by The Loadout, players will first need to find some sort of explosive weapon like Semtex or Frag Grenades if they want to go fishing, then head to one of Warzone 2.0’s various beaches.

Call of Duty: Warzone being removed by Activision Blizzard due to accusations of plagiarism, the publisher has issued an apology to the original artist.Artist Sail Lin took to Twitter on July 29 to allege their original work from 2019 had been stolen by the company, pointing out clear imitations by Activision for the “Loyal Samoyed” skin in Call of Duty: Warzone.Lin told Kotaku that they hadn’t been in contact with Activision and had no idea that the publisher was going to add the skin to the game. Both versions have the same backpack, hip pouch and elbow pad as well as clothing being virtually identical, with no colour changes being made.At the time, Lin had reached out to Activision for an “explanation or compensation” and hoped the situation would be “settled soon”.

Activision Blizzard King has reported a loss of 11million monthly active users (MAUs) since March of this year.These player loss numbers come from the publisher’s quarterly financial results (published on August 1), with the Activision and King branches of the company seeing the biggest losses in monthly users.March of this year saw 372million players, whilst June saw 361million. Within the company, Activision’s monthly playerbase dropped from 100 to 94million, while Blizzard‘s went up from 22 to 27million and King fell from 250 to 240million.This decline follows an overall decline in average player counts over the last 12 months.

Activision has acknowledged that the studio’s “own execution” caused a disappointing reception to Call Of Duty: Vanguard, and admitted the title “didn’t deliver as much innovation” as it would have liked.Shortly after Vanguard launched, it was reported that launch sales were down 40 per cent compared to the last Call Of Duty title, Black Ops Cold War.In Activision’s 2021 annual report, the company has now reflected on what it thinks went wrong for Vanguard.“[Vanguard] didn’t meet our expectations, we believe primarily due to our own execution,” said Activision.

Call Of Duty series will not receive a new mainline title in 2023, the first time in nearly two decades, creepsActivision is reportedly pushing back the upcoming 2023 entry in the series after the most recent installment, 2021’s Call Of Duty: Vanguard from Sledgehammer Games, failed to live up to the company’s expectations. The 2023 entry is allegedly being developed by Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War maker Treyarch.According to a new report by Bloomberg‘s Jason Schreier, who cites “people familiar with the [release] plan”, some higher-ups in the company believe Activision has been releasing new installments in the series at too fast a pace.However, it seems like the coming years will not go without any Call Of Duty content from Activision at all.

Microsoft president Brad Smith has said that staff at Activision Blizzard will be “under scrutiny” following its acquisition of the publisher.Last month, Microsoft purchased Activision Blizzard in a deal worth around £50billion, with the US Federal Trade Commission currently conducting an antitrust investigation.The purchase comes after Activision was hit by a lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and another by the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission following multiple allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination, and workplace misconduct.In between that, its own staff also filed a complaint too, alleging that the company used intimidation and “coercive tactics” to stifle staff trying to improve working conditions.It’s also been alleged that Activision CEO Bobby Kotick was aware of sexual misconduct claims within the company since 2018 but did not inform Activision’s board of directors. A report by the Wall Street Journal also suggested that Kotick played a first-hand part in the culture that has embroiled Activision in sexual harassment lawsuits and investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission.Speaking CNBC (via VGC) about the accusations, Smith said: “We’re looking to the leadership team at Activision Blizzard today to make culture and workplace safety a top priority every single day, until the day when this deal hopefully closes.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said that he doesn’t believe its acquisition of Activision Blizzard should be blocked by the US Federal Trade Commission.The deal, worth around £50billion, was announced on January 18 but earlier this week it was announced that the US Federal Trade Commission would be conducting an antitrust investigation after fears the acquisition would harm competition.Talking to the Financial Times, Nadella said that the deal would only place Microsoft as the third largest player in the video games industry behind Sony and Tencent. He also believes the fragmentation of the market would prevent it from ever gaining a monopoly.“At the end of the day, all the analysis here has to be done through a lens of what’s the category we’re talking about, and what about the market structure?” said Nadella.“Even post-this acquisition, we will be number three with a low teens (market) share, where even the highest player is also in the teens (for market) share.

Call Of Duty: Warzone is in development, with the title apparently coming to Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.According to a Bloomberg report about the future of Activision Blizzard following their acquisition by Microsoft, the next three Call Of Duty titles won’t be Xbox exclusives because of deals made before the purchase.Speaking to four people with “knowledge” of the deal, those titles include the next two instalments of Modern Warfare (with the first expected this year). “The deal also includes a planned new iteration of Call Of Duty Warzone.”The claim was backed up by “credible Call Of Duty leaker” Tom Henderson, who believes Warzone 2 will be released in 2023 alongside the second new iteration of Modern Warfare (currently being developed by Treyarch).Warzone 2 is literally that… Warzone 2.Current gen and PC only… No past weapon integrations etc.

Activision Blizzard have formed a union.Composed of Raven Software quality assurance (QA) staff who staged a walkout in December of last year after more than a third of the QA team were laid off, the Game Workers Alliance (GWA) is a new union that has been launched with the help of the ABK Workers Alliance, which helped organise the ongoing strike and set up a GoFundMe for the staff.The Game Workers Alliance has been formed in conjunction with the Communications Workers of America, which organises unions in industries from communications to technology. The GWA is requesting formal recognition from Activision Blizzard, for which a spokesperson told Bloomberg:“While we believe that a direct relationship between the company and its team members delivers the strongest workforce opportunities, we deeply respect the rights of all employees under the law to make their own decisions about whether or not to join a union.”A mission statement on the GWA website adds that the union focuses “on improving the conditions of workers in the video game industry by making it a more sustainable, equitable place where transparency is paramount.

Sony has made some of its first comments regarding Microsoft‘s £50billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, saying it expects the games to remain on PlayStation.As spotted by Bloomberg, a Sony spokesperson speaking to the Wall Street Journal today (January 20) has said that it expects Activision to honour its contractual agreements despite being bought out by its competitor Microsoft.“We expect that Microsoft will abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform.”Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming has said that Microsoft does not intend to pull communities away from PlayStation by taking games away from the platform. Analysts also suggest that due to the large number of players of Activision’s biggest franchise Call Of Duty, regulators would prevent Microsoft from making it an exclusive title over fears of monopolisation.However, Spencer made similar remarks during the acquisition of Zenimax.

Microsoft‘s acquisition of Activision Blizzard apparently came about due to the misconduct allegations against the latter.A new report from Bloomberg has detailed some of the behind the scenes actions that are said to have taken place regarding the Activision Blizzard acquisition. According to the report, when the news broke of misconduct allegations at Activision Blizzard from The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft Corp.