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

Update: Publisher Activision has indeed announced today that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will be released for the Wii on November 10.

While owners of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will have the new Modern Warfare 2 to chew on this season, Wii gamers will at least have a chance to play the previous title in the series, as Kotaku reports that a port of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is headed to the Wii.

The port will be handled by Call of Duty: World at War developer Treyarch, and will allegedly ship on November 10 alongside Modern Warfare 2. An official announcement of the game is expected tomorrow.

Activision also announced Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized for the Nintendo DS earlier this week.

Activision publishing CEO Mike Griffith today noted that the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has now sold over 13 million copies.

Call of Duty 4 was first released in November 2007, and had maintained its full retail price until recently. The title had sold 10 million copies by June 2008.

The logical sequel, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, is now set for release on November 10, 2009.

Along with its list of the most-played consoles in 2008, research group The Nielsen Company has provided its list of the past year's most popular PC games in the US.

Of the ten titles, none were released in 2008, and only 2 debuted in 2007. The list is based off data from January through October 2008, meaning that the impact of the second World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, was not taken into account.

Unsurprisingly, Blizzard's World of Warcraft topped the PC charts, with those surveyed playing the PC MMO an average of 671 minutes, just a bit over 11 hours, per week. Blizzard's Diablo II also appears on the list, as do three games from Valve.

Unfortunately, Nielsen did not specify the methodology behind this year's results. In 2007, the firm based its list off an extremely small pool of participants, a mere 1200 gamers, which could explain the unexpected results. It is not known if this was changed for 2008.

Top 10 PC Game Titles in the U.S.
1. World of Warcraft (2004) / Blizzard Entertainment
   671 Avg Minutes Played Per Week / 0.723% AU*
2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) / Infinity Ward
   403 Avg Minutes Played Per Week / 0.163% AU*
3. Halo: Combat Evolved (2003) / Gearbox, Bungie... Read more

60 percent of Call of Duty 4 owners play the game online, according to Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick.

The statistic, revealed during Activision Blizzard's Analyst Day event, signals that a majority of action gamers--at least, Call of Duty 4 owners--are now able to play console games online. The game debuted at number four in the Xbox Live Top 10 Activity list and hasn't left the top three since.

The Infinity Ward-developed shooter has sold 10 million copies worldwide, meaning by Kotick's number that the game has had a total of 6 million online players across the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 platforms. As the game requires a broadband internet connection to play online, the implications are encouraging for fans of playing games online.

Publisher Activision has announced that the Variety Map Pack for Call of Duty 4 and its additional multiplayer arenas will sell for 400 Microsoft Points ($5), half of its usual $10 cost, on the Xbox Live Marketplace this weekend.

The half-price sale runs from 12:01 AM PDT on Friday, September 12 to midnight on Monday, September 14. In celebration of the reduced cost, that time will also be part of a Double XP Weekend for online players.

Released earlier this year on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 at $10, the Variety Map Pack brought four extra maps to the Infinity Ward-developed shooter: Creek, Broadcast, Killhouse, and Chinatown (a remake of the classic CoD map Carentan). A free PC release of the map pack followed in June.

Developer Bungie has "a lot to learn" from Infinity Ward's use of scripted events in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Bungie programmer Damian Isla has admitted.

"[Infinity Ward] did a hell of a job with their set pieces, of scripting certain moments that they were really sure the player was going to actually see and experience first hand," the lead API programmer told GamesIndustry.biz. "Halo has a lot to learn from."

Left, Bungie's Halo 3. Right, Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Though both shooters have many scripted moments, Isla lamented that Halo players often miss them or "don't experience it in quite the same way that we ... Read more

The latest patch for the PC edition of Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is now available, updating the game to version 1.7.

According to publisher Activision, the 39mb download includes the following changes:

• Fixed an exploit that allowed players to access certain console dvars during multi-player matches.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when a Chinatown Sabotage match would go into over-time.
• Fixed a bug where the MP icons (Bomb, Defend, Capture, etc) were always showing up as English regardless of the install language.

The war-based shooter Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, 360) has now sold over 10 million units worldwide, according to developer Infinity Ward.

Studio head Vince Zampella informed CNET of the milestone. He was was unsure of the exact breakdown per platform, but said that the Xbox 360 version is the top-seller. Back in January, studio owner Activision announced that the game had topped 7 million units worldwide and was the best-selling game of 2007.

Since then, the developer has released a new multiplayer map pack for all versions of the game, which set a new record for paid downloads on the Xbox... Read more

As had been expected, a new patch for the PC version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is now available, updating the game to version 1.6. The 283mb download offers new server browser filters, and four new multiplayer maps: Creek, Chinatown, Broadcast, and Killhouse.

The first downloadable map pack for Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will hit PCs on June 5, the developer has revealed.

Dubbed the Variety Map Pack, it brings four new multiplayer maps to the fold: Creek, Broadcast, Killhouse, and Chinatown, a remake of the classic CoD map Carentan.

Unlike the pack's earlier console releases, which sold for $10, the PC edition will be available for free thanks to a sponsorship from Nvidia.

"In addition to the map pack hitting, PC Players will be receiving the 1.6 Patch for the PC version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare that will add support for the new maps, fix a server crash exploit recently reported by the community, and a few additional features / bug fixes," community manager Robert Bowling wrote on his blog.

Confirming earlier reports, publisher Activision has reaffirmed that the first downloadable map pack for Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will arrive on the PlayStation 3 this Thursday, April 24.

Priced at $9.99, the Variety Map Pack includes four multiplayer maps: Creek, Broadcast, Killhouse, and Chinatown (a remake of the classic CoD map Carentan).

A code for a free download of the Variety Map Pack will be included in the upcoming Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Game of the Year Edition re-release. To commemorate today's news, a company representative sent over the accompanying loldog.

Released for the Xbox 360 version earlier this month, the Variety Map Pack went on to set a new record for the Xbox Live Marketplace, exceeding one million downloads in its first nine days of availability. A PC edition of the pack is said to be in the works.

Publisher Activision announced today that the Variety Map Pack for Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare exceeded one million downloads in the first nine days of its release, setting a new record for paid downloads on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

The content was released on Xbox Live on April 10, priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10). The map pack is scheduled to drop on PS3s via the PlayStation Store on April 24.

Composed of four maps, the Variety Map Pack includes Creek, Broadcast, Killhouse, and Chinatown (a remake of the classic CoD map Carentan).

Infinity Ward announced today that the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, X360) Variety Map Pack will be released on North American PlayStation 3s on April 24, and in Europe a week later.

The new content, which was released on the Xbox 360 earlier this month, will be available as part of next Thursday's PlayStation Store update at a $9.99 price point.

The map pack includes four multiplayer maps: Creek, Broadcast, Killhouse, and Chinatown (a remake of the classic CoD map Carentan). For a more intimate look, scope out the recent batch of gameplay videos.

Contradicting word of a delay, developer Infinity Ward claimed that the new Variety Map Pack for the Xbox 360 edition of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is still on track for release later today or early tomorrow.

"As of right now we're pushing certification for an on-time release for April 3rd or 4th," community manager Robert Bowling wrote on his fourzerotwo blog. "It looks like [the maps] should be available late Thursday night / early Friday morning."

Earlier this week, a representative for publisher and studio owner Activision told Shacknews and other outlets that the map pack had been delayed until April 10.

Priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), the downloadable content packs four multiplayer maps: Creek, Broadcast, Killhouse, and Chinatown (a remake of the classic CoD map Carentan). For a more intimate look, scope out the recent batch of gameplay videos.

The PlayStation 3 release of the map pack will carry the same $10 price point when it arrives in roughly three weeks, with the PC edition possibly following after that.

The upcoming Variety Map Pack for the Xbox 360 version of Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will be downloadable from the Xbox Live Marketplace beginning Thursday, April 10, publisher Activision has revealed.

The map pack was previously expected to arrive in the first week of April. An Activision representative confirmed the new date with Shacknews, noting that there had been a slight delay for unspecified reasons.

Priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), the Variety Map Pack contains four maps: Creek, Broadcast, Killhouse, and Chinatown (a remake of the classic CoD map Carentan). For a closer look, scope out the recent batch of gameplay videos featuring the new environments.

The PlayStation 3 release of the map pack will carry the same $10 price point when it arrives roughly three weeks later, with the PC edition possibly following after that.

A trailer and gameplay videos are now available for the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare downloadable content hitting Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store in April. First up is the teaser trailer offering fly-throughs of the new levels, the gameplay movies follow after the break

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Following up on the teeny-tiny screens released earlier, publisher Activision has issued nine nicely-sized screenshots of multiplayer maps contained within the upcoming Variety Map Pack for Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Containing four maps--Creek, Broadcast, Killhouse, and Chinatown (a remake of the classic CoD map Carentan)--and priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), the Variety Map Pack will be downloadable from Xbox Live Marketplace on April 3 or 4.

The PlayStation 3 release of the map pack will carry the same $10 price point when it arrives roughly three weeks later, with the PC edition possibly following after that.

Developer Infinity Ward has clarified the release schedule of the first downloadable map pack for its war-centric shooter Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, X360).

Expanding on earlier vague statements from publisher Activision, Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling revealed that the upcoming Variety Map Map will be available for the Xbox 360 version on April 3 or 4, followed by a PlayStation 3 release roughly three weeks later and a possible PC edition after that.

"Right now plans for the PC version are unannounced but we are working to bring PC users the same content in the future," Bowling wrote on his blog. "Logistics are being worked out on how to make that happen."

Containing four new multiplayer maps--Creek, Broadcast, Killhouse, and Chinatown (a remake of the classic CoD map Carentan)--the Variety Map Pack will sell for 800 Microsoft Points ($10) in the Xbox 360's online Xbox Live Marketplace. The PlayStation 3 release of the map pack will carry the same $10 price point when it arrives later in the month.

Update: Publisher Activision has clarified that the Variety Map Pack will be, "available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace exclusively for 21 days."

The phrasing seems to indicate that the map pack may arrive for the PlayStation 3 and PC editions after that time. When reached for more details, Activision told Shacknews that more information would be available near the end of April.

Original Story: Microsoft today announced that the Variety Map Pack for Infinity Ward's shooter Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will hit Xbox Live on April 3.

The date coincides with the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Game of the Year Edition, which will include the map pack by way of a token redeemable for a free download. The DLC will run 800 Microsoft Points ($10) for those who own the vanilla Xbox 360 edition.

A pair of small screenshots accompanied the announcement, showing off two of the four new maps that will be included in the pack.

Click on through for a full description of the maps. ... Read more