Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard is looking to further expand the blockbuster series by adding a third development studio to the mix, claims a Los Angeles Times report.

Recent years have seen the company release annual entries by alternating lead development duties between series creator Infinity Ward (Call of Duty, Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2) and Treyarch (Call of Duty 3, Call of Duty: World at War), with external studios n-Space and Rebellion having assisted with Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2 editions.

Activision claims that this year's entry, Modern Warfare 2, represents "the biggest launch in history across all forms of entertainment," with indications that the inevitable next one is being handled by Treyarch and could be set in the Vietnam War era.

The publisher has also repeatedly spoken of a possible Call of Duty-branded massively multiplayer game, with CEO Bobby Kotick pondering how to monetize "the natural evolution of a property like Call of Duty into a massively multiplayer environment" and CFO Thomas Tippl noting "you should expect us to test and ultimately launch additional online monetization models of some our biggest franchises like Call of Duty."

Update: According to Big Download and Blue's News, Left 4 Dead 2 pre-orders were listed as Steam's second top-grossing game for the week of 11/8 - 11/14, though it seems that listing disappeared after the game launched on November 17.

Original: The week before Left 4 Dead 2's release curiously saw Valve's zombie shooter get left behind by digital customers, as online pre-orders for the sequel slipped from the number three spot on Steam's top ten to, well, a position not listed on the chart.

Unsurprisingly, sales juggernaut Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 topped Steam's charts, with Direct2Drive, which refuses to sell MW2, seeing Dragon Age reign again.

Steam Top Ten (by Revenue): 11/8 - 11/14

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Infinity Ward
2. Dragon Age: Origins - BioWare
3. Dragon Age: Origins Digital Deluxe Edition - BioWare... Read more

Publisher Activision continues to toot its own horn over the recent release of Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 2 Modern Warfare 2 with new figures for the first five days of sale, revealing a "new worldwide estimated five-day sell-through record" of $550 million.

Backing up its bold claim that Modern Warfare 2's arrival on November 10 was "the biggest launch in history across all forms of entertainment," Activision lists the following book, movie and video game records broken by the shooter sequel's launch.

• The largest reported five-day opening worldwide box office gross figures, held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394 million)
• The largest reported five-day opening domestic box office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight ($203.8 million)
• The largest reported five-day worldwide video game sales record, previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (6 million... Read more

Two of the more controversial aspects of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 have both seen significant developments, one in an official capacity and the other unofficially.

On the official side of things, Activision has confirmed reports that the Russian version of the Infinity Ward's record-breaking shooter was censored in the territory, specifically removing the controversial airport-set "No Russian" terrorist sequence.

"Other countries have formal ratings boards that we regularly work with," the company told Eurogamer. "However, Russia does not have a formal ratings entity. As a result, we chose to block the scene after seeking the advice of local counsel... Read more

Just two days after the debut of Modern Warfare 2, Microsoft's online console gaming service Xbox Live has hit a new record, with more than two million users connected at once.

The announcement came out of today's BMO Capital Markets Digital Entertainment Conference, as relayed by Microsoft PR manager David Dennis and Xbox Live programming director Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb.

The exact impact that Modern Warfare 2 had in reaching the record was not revealed, but with over 4.7 million copies sold on opening day and 995,462 playing the Xbox 360 version on Xbox Live as of this writing, it's clear the influence was substantial.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 publisher Activision has declared this week's release of Infinity Ward's shooter "the biggest launch in history across all forms of entertainment."

Approximately 4.7 million copies of Modern Warfare 2 were bought within the first 24 hours of sale in North America and the United Kingdom alone according to internal estimates, which Activision works out as $310 million of sell-through sales.

Modern Warfare 2 was released for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on Tuesday, with many stores opening at midnight for the occasion including 10,000 in the USA.

So great was the launch, Infinity's Ward Robert Bowling explained, that Sony's PlayStation Network was "overwhelmed" by the glut of players on PlayStation 3 and many were left unable to play online--an issue which should now be rectified.

Major digital distributors Direct2Drive, GamersGate and Impulse have refused to stock Infinity Ward's highly anticipated shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on PC due to its reliance upon Valve Software's rival distribution platform Steam, Voodoo Extreme reports.

"We believe strongly that when you buy a game from us, you shouldn't be forced to install and run a 3rd party software client to be able to play the game you purchased," D2D explains in a statement masquerading as a listing for Modern Warfare 2 in its store. A representative later told Kotaku "We don't believe games should force the user to install a Trojan Horse."

Modern Warfare 2 on PC will use Steam and Valve's Steamworks framework for DRM purposes as well auto-update, achievement and anti-cheat features, among others.

However, both Direct2Drive and GamersGate sell ACE Team's Zeno Clash--which requires Steam. D2D also offers several other Steam-based titles... Read more

Eminem and Nate Dogg's "Till I Collapse" serves as the musical backdrop for Modern Warfare 2's launch trailer, which intersperses scenes of chaos with critical praise.

Practically guaranteed to be one of the year's top-sellers, Infinity Ward's controversial shooter sequel hits next Tuesday, November 10, on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

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Pre-orders for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 are "the highest for any title we've ever sold in our 6,200 store network," retailer GameStop has informed USA Today.

The impending blockbuster--Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has sold over 13 million units, Call of Duty: World at War has now exceeded 11 million--has caused several other games to be delayed, including Call of Duty publisher Activision's own Singularity, as companies attempt to avoid going head-to-head with one of the year's biggest titles.

Infinity Ward's anticipated (and controversial) shooter sequel hits PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in exactly one week, on Tuesday, November 10. Various retailers are hosting midnight events to commemorate the release, including GameStop and Walmart.

Update 2: Activision has released an official comment on the video, saying that the footage is "not representative of the overall gameplay experience in Modern Warfare 2." More below.

Update: The video has been removed at the request of publisher Activision, citing copyright infringement. The rest of the story, however, remains unchanged.

Though Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 isn't due out until November 10, someone out there managed to get their hands on an extremely early copy of the game. And as we live in the digital age, this means off-screen shaky cam footage of in-game antics.

The footage can be found below, along with a statement from publisher Activision. Be forewarned that the video is of low quality and spoils what is easily among the game's most surprising and controversial moments, as does the... Read more

After a slideshow masquerading as a video suggested that first-person shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 could also be played from a third person perspective, Joystiq has details on the new view from developer Infinity Ward.

"This is just another cool way to play the game," noted IW's Robert 'fourzerotwo' Bowling. He explained that the alternate view is only available via dedicated playlists and private multiplayer matches. Players won't be able to swap between the views mid-match, as the camera is determined by match settings.

"It's not something you can toggle on and off in ANY game," he added. "You obviously will still have the option to play gametypes normal as well." More details and a better explanation of the new view should arrive soon via a supposedly "awesome trailer."

Modern Warfare 2 hits PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 10.

Activision and Valve today announced that they've hammered out an agreement to get Valve's Steamworks suite of tools onto the PC version of Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2.

"All PC versions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be powered by Steamworks, providing gamers with auto-updating, anti-cheat technology, Steam Achievements, and the recently introduced Steam Cloud," reads the release.

Modern Warfare 2 PC will come loaded with 50 Steam achievements. As with other Steamworks titles, the game will also be accessible from any computer, with Steam Cloud providing persistent settings.

"Steam is the hands down leader in offering a community focused experience on PC and the inclusion of Steamworks has allowed us to deliver the most feature-rich PC version to ever come from Infinity Ward, which at the end of the day will mean the most to our fans," said Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling.

Update: Infinity Ward has sent along the official specs, which differ slightly from GameStop's list. Check them out below. The GameStop list has been left in for comparison.

OS: Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 (Windows 95/98/ME/2000 are unsupported)
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processor or better supported
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics: 256 MB NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT or better or... Read more

Amazon is offering a $20 voucher for future video games purchases from the retailer with copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The offer includes both the $60 regular edition and $80 'Hardened' edition--packing an art book and code for the upcoming downloadable release of the original Call of Duty.

While this offer sadly does not cover the $150 night vision goggle and plastic head-toting Prestige Edition, a $10 voucher is included with the Xbox 360 version only.

Infinity Ward's shooter sequel arrives November 10, with the PC version controversially not supporting dedicated servers. Thanks to Shacker kungfusquirrel for the tip.

Though Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 maker Infinity Ward recently told us that "PC [multiplayer] will be the same as it always was," the company has now revealed that the war-torn shooter will not make use of community-run dedicated servers.

"We've been building up this system on the backend called IW Net, to allow matchmaking for our PC users just like you have on the console," Infinity Ward community manager Robert 'fourzerotwo' Bowling explained on podcast BASH 123.

"You're completely reliant on IW Net and there's no dedicated servers or server list. You rely on IW Net for your matchmaking and finding games, but then you also have the private match, much like the other platforms, where you... Read more

While the decision to branch off from World War II PC shooters and create the Modern Warfare franchise seems a no-brainer in hindsight, developer Infinity Ward now says that its owner Activision was against the idea from the start, deeming the idea "risky" and requesting more games set in the 1940s. "With Call of Duty 2, we were dead set against it being World War 2," said Infinity Ward chief Vince Zampella to Official PlayStation Magazine, according to CVG.

"But Activision really wanted it, the compromise sort of being that... Read more

With Sunday drawing to a close, developer Infinity Ward has loosed a new trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, one that ends in the flaming ruins of a rather iconic locale.

The anticipated shooter sequel hits PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 10--the same day the first Modern Warfare arrives on Wii and Mobilized comes to DS.

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The collaboration between publisher Activision and Monster Beverage Company brings us more than just Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2-branded energy drinks--it reveals when one of the game's downloadable content packs is due.

That map pack has a "planned release [of] Spring 2010," going by the specially marked "Monster Assault Energy" four-pack that just arrived here at Shacknews.

Whether the referenced map pack is the first downloadable add-on for the anticipated November 10-due shooter remains to be seen--developer Infinity Ward has promised "at least" two maps packs, both of which will hit Xbox 360 before PC and PlayStation 3.

During last week's Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer event, I had a chance to sit down with Infinity Ward rep Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling and question him on everything I'd just played. But while I was a Modern Warfare multiplayer junky for a couple weeks, I've been expounding on the single player campaign's brilliant levels for even longer, particularly the chilling AC-130 gunship stage. As such, I had to sneak a few campaign-oriented questions into the mix, talking up the possibility of more thought-provoking perspective shifts.

In our brief interview, Bowling and I touched on all of these details, from PC-specific multiplayer support to new grenade physics. Also discussed: how Infinity Ward feels about being the big bad bully of this holiday season. (Hint: pretty good). ... Read more

Following up on the announcement of a $400 Modern Warfare 2-themed "limited edition" Xbox 360 that comes with a 250GB HDD, Microsoft has clarified that the console's largest hard drive yet will not be sold separately.

"This hard drive is not being sold separately," Xbox Live programming director Larry 'Major Nelson' Hryb noted during a video examining the bundle, embedded below.

Microsoft currently sells two different configurations of the Xbox 360 hardware--the $200 Arcade, which has 512MB of storage, and a $300 Elite that... Read more