Call of Duty: Ghosts was the biggest (and one of the only) gaming pitches Microsoft made at its Xbox One announcement. Activision has once again thrown its lot in with Microsoft for exclusive content, and Activision Publishing head Eric Hirshberg has talked about how it plans to leverage some of the console's features.
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Infinity Ward has been working on an all new engine for Call of Duty: Ghosts, and while we discussed it our our first preview of the game, a picture--or trailer--is worth a thousand words. Activision has released a new video comparing the current graphics to Modern Warfare 3.
Activision deliberately crossed everyone up when it announced the next Call of Duty as Ghosts instead of Modern Warfare 4 on May 1. It was a calculated attempt to reboot the franchise with a new generation of consoles on the horizon. But no matter what it was called, the company was confident the next game would be popular no matter what.
"I plugged in Modern Warfare 4 into Google on my phone and saw there were 122 million search results for the name," said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. "Just for fun, I plugged in Dark Knight Rises, which does exist, and there were 116 million results."
More details have finally been revealed for Call of Duty: Ghosts, courtesy of the Xbox One reveal event on the Microsoft campus. All DLC for the game will launch exclusively first on Xbox One.
It is expected that Call of Duty: Ghosts will be a big part of the Next Xbox's reveal tomorrow. But if you need a rather tiny glimpse of what to look forward to, developer Infinity Ward has released a micro-video onto Vine.
Infinity Ward helms development of the newly announced Call of Duty: Ghosts. However, Modern Warfare 3 co-developer Sledgehammer Games is sitting this one out, left to work on their own original project instead.
"Our team is heads down on our next project, but best wishes to the hardworking team at IW!" the studio tweeted (via Polygon). Sledgehammer is reportedly working on a Call of Duty project, but the tweet implies it's an entirely separate one.
If Activision didn't abandon Call of Duty's numbering scheme with 2008's World at War, this year's Ghosts would be Call of Duty 10. Ever since 2008, Activision's FPS franchise has seen an annual release, and against all odds, has managed to continuously grow its sales numbers. Even before an official reveal, the franchise has developed a loyal fanbase willing to buy new Call of Duty games, sight unseen. We talked to a number of Call of Duty fans about why they're still interested in COD a decade in, and what Activision can do to keep them playing for years to come.
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Updated with more official details and comments from Activision.
Lo and behold, the rumors are true. Activision has gone to Twitter to confirm that Call of Duty: Ghosts is, indeed, this year's entry in the long-running COD franchise. The tweet describes the game as "the next generation of Call of Duty."
According to Activision, Ghosts will be powered by a "new, next-gen Call of Duty engine," likely the DirectX 11 engine leaked last year. In addition to PS4 and next Xbox versions, Ghosts will also be available on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Those versions will be available on November 5th. (Next-gen consoles have yet to be dated.)
PC and PlayStation 3 players anxiously waiting for the Uprising DLC pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 won't have to wait much longer. Activision has announced that the pack will be out on May 16 when the Xbox 360 exclusivity period is up.
A UK retailer may have leaked the title of the next Call of Duty game, along with a purported release date from leaked Target ad. According to the leaks, it will be called "Call of Duty: Ghosts," and is planned to release on November 5, 2013.
Unlike other publishers, Activision has been lagging behind in selling content for mobile phones and tablets. For example, the publisher has only released a handful Call of Duty games on the App Store, all watered-down ports of the console games' zombies mode. The ports were merely "okay," Activision Blizzard senior director of global digital and mobile sales Jon Estanislao said. But, he promised that going forward, the company will be focused on avoiding ports, and making original experiences.
"Going forward for us, how do we really take that Call of Duty experience, what is the essence of it? These kinds of grandiose, immerse experiences--how do we move that to mobile or tablet? From a development perspective, we're investing a lot more in understanding how to marry that together with how customers expect to play on those devices," he said.
When we heard that the Uprising for Black Ops 2 would feature mob movie icons fighting zombies in Alcatraz prison, that it would be paying homage to mafia classics. With a new trailer, Activision is showing just how on-the-nose the so-called "Mob of the Dead" can be with its referential cheek.
The upcoming Mob of the Dead map set on Alcatraz Island will be part of the Uprising DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on April 16, and Activision has released a trailer discussing how Treyarch developed the story and captured the mood of the historic prison island.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2's Uprising DLC pack is coming, and the Replacer is back with reinforcements to take over your day-to-day duties for you so you can play the game. A new trailer shows off just what mundane tasks this replacement team will do so you don't have to leave your couch.
Today Activision officially confirmed rumors from earlier in the week regarding the "Uprising" map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. The map pack is coming to Xbox 360 on April 16, and includes four new maps and a zombie map with a mobster twist.
"...and how exactly is that? It's probably still all scripted."
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