Tag: Activision

Warzone Mobile debuts March 21 with Verdansk, Rebirth Island and multiplayer maps

Activision announced that Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile will launch worldwide on March 21 with the popular Verdansk and Rebirth Island battle royale maps. After years of development at four Activision studios, the game will debut on iOS and Android at the same time and it will offer cross-progression with the PC and console versions. […]

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FTC hits Microsoft with federal complaint over game division layoffs

The US Federal Trade Commission has filed a complaint with a federal appeals court over Microsoft’s plan to lay off 1,900 employees from its gaming division, saying the move “contradicts” Microsoft’s commitment to maintaining the studio’s operational independence while the FTC pursues its case against the merger. Microsoft completed its takeover of Activision Blizzard in […]

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has a free trial starting tomorrow, which is probably the best way to play Activision’s underwhelming sequel

Season 2 of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 starts today, though you’d be forgiven for dismissing it outright considering how poorly received Activision‘s latest FPS behemoth was. But there’s also a free trial of the game kicking off tomorrow, and considering what the trial offers, it might just be worth paying attention to. Running […]

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Former Infinity Ward dev says Activision told staff to ‘take the money and get over it’ after ‘cold-blooded’ canning of studio heads West and Zampella

In 2009, Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella were abruptly fired by the company’s owner Activision. West and Zampella had directed the original Call of Duty, and brought the series to superstardom through Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Their sacking just before the release of Modern Warfare 2 shocked the industry, and […]

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Activision’s Call of Duty general manager takes over as president of Blizzard

Blizzard Entertainment has announced that its new president is Johanna Faries, who previously spent nearly three years as the general manager of Activision‘s Call of Duty franchise. Faries will replace Mike Ybarra, who unexpectedly announced his departure when Microsoft laid off 1,900 employees from its gaming division last week. In an email sent to Blizzard […]

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Activision updates code of conduct to fight toxicity in Modern Warfare III

Do you want to get the latest gaming industry news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our daily and weekly newsletters here. Activision has been fighting a long fight to end disruptive and toxic behavior in online games such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. And today it announced it had updated the […]

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2 months after killing the Overwatch League, Blizzard teams up with Saudi Arabia’s esports org for ‘a new era of Overwatch esports’

As promised, Blizzard has unveiled “the next chapter” of professional Overwatch esports: The Overwatch Champions Series, a multi-region competitive circuit that will culminate in two major tournaments at Dreamhack. The Overwatch Champions Series will be operated in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa by, an esports company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Savvy […]

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Natalya Tatarchuk named Activision CTO in first post-Kotick leadership change

Do you want to get the latest gaming industry news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our daily and weekly newsletters here. Activision Publishing has named Natalya Tatarchuk as its new CTO. In her new role, Tatarchuk will oversee the company’s top-level technology goals across Activision’s portfolio, including Call of Duty. Tatarchuk is new […]

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Former Activision-Blizzard employee sues the company for none of the reasons you’d expect by now, accuses Bobby Kotick of saying it had ‘too many old white guys’

Activision-Blizzard has been the centre of a lot of controversy over these past few years. After a lawsuit went public, detailing “numerous complaints about unlawful harassment, discrimination, and retaliation” and a “frat boy” culture, plus claims from former CEO Bobby Kotick that the whole thing was just an “aggressive labour movement,”  the company finally settled […]

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Xbox chief Phil Spencer thanks Bobby Kotick for his ‘invaluable contributions’ to the games industry as Kotick officially exits Activision Blizzard after 32 years

It is now official: In a farewell message to employees, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has confirmed that he will be leaving the company. Kotick’s future with Activision Blizzard came into question almost as soon as Microsoft announced its intention to acquire the company back in January 2022. The decision appeared to be all but […]

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Why Call of Duty is more than just a game | Johanna Faries

Do you want to get the latest gaming industry news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our daily and weekly newsletters here. There’s no bigger game than Call of Duty. And so it was a natural for us to discuss its cultural impact at our conference GamesBeat at The Game Awards. We were lucky […]

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Modern Warfare III review part 2: Why multiplayer saves the day again

When I reviewed the single-player campaign for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III a few weeks ago, I gave it the lowest score that I had in years. But now I’m ready to offer my assessment of Modern Warfare III’s multiplayer gameplay — and it’s much better than I expected. I always like to point […]

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The Grand Theft Auto 6 announcement graphic has become the new CD Projekt Red apology as brands scramble to snag some hype of their own

In case you missed it, a little-known developer called Rockstar finally revealed that its first trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 would be dropping on December 5. With little more than a graphic with warm sunset tones, palm trees, and the words “Trailer 1, December 5, 9 AM ET,” the developer set fans into an […]

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Breaking with tradition, Activision says it will actually start talking about Call of Duty skill-based matchmaking soon

Skill-based matchmaking is a lot like magnets: How do they work? Nobody really knows outside developers themselves, and historically game makers have been reluctant to talk very much about it. But in a statement shared with Charlie Intel, Activision said it’s finally going to start offering some real insights into its processes for Call of […]

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Call of Duty GM Johanna Faries to speak at GamesBeat at The Game Awards

Johanna Faries, senior vice president at Activision Blizzard and general manager of Call of Duty, will be a speaker at our event, GamesBeat at The Game Awards on December 7 at LA Live’s Grammy Museum. We’ll be holding a half a day of panels on gaming’s intersection with culture, such as gaming and Hollywood. Our theme […]

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Call of Duty goes Final Destination on cheaters by pancaking them straight into the map

Call of Duty, just like any competitive game that achieves success, has a cheating problem. Some players will always want to cheat, cheat sellers will always sell cheats, and developers fight to stop such behaviour ruining things for everyone else. So back in 2021 publisher Activision announced it was getting serious about anti-cheat: kernel-level serious. […]

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