After almost two years, Microsoft has finally closed the $68.7 billion deal and acquired Activision Blizzard. Confirmed by Phil Spencer, head of gaming at Microsoft, the deal comes after the final approval from UK's Competition and Markets earlier today. The acquisition puts Activision Blizzard, developers Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, Toys for Bob, Beenox and High Moon Studios, as well as the mobile game maker King, which is known for its Candy Crush game, all under Xbox Game Studios.

In case you missed it, Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard back in January 2022, after which it started its battle with various regulators, including UK's CMA, the European Commission, the US Federal Trade Commission, and others. In its extensive statement, Phil Spencer, head of gaming at Microsoft, once again confirmed that they will continue to make more games available in more places, as it promised to the European Commission, and they can now start the work to bring all those franchises to Game Pass and other platforms. Earlier this week, Activision Blizzard confirmed it expected to start adding titles to Game Pass in 2024, if the aforementioned deal goes through.

As Call of Duty nears its 20th anniversary, veteran fans could have over 100 potential answers to that question, and that's not including the 16 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer maps that debuted in 2009 - one of the greatest Day One Multiplayer offerings of all time. Afghan. Derail. Estate. Favela. Karachi. Highrise. Invasion. Quarry. Rundown. Rust. Scrapyard. Skidrow. Sub Base. Terminal. Underpass. Wasteland.

As previously revealed, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III will launch with meticulously crafted, modernized versions of these 16 Core Modern Warfare 2 (2009) maps, constructed to maintain the authenticity and accuracy of the originals. Sledgehammer Games' Art Director Matt Abbott and Design Director Zach Hodson detail what that means in the latest Intel Drop.

Grab a friend and prepare to battle against another Duo when Gunfight returns in Season 03 of Call of Duty : Modern Warfare II, launching on April 12. In this round-based match, players must use randomly assigned Loadouts to overcome the opposition and secure the round win. And with just one life per round, every move counts. Whether you need to brush up on the returning mode or this is your first 2v2 duel, read on for the rules of engagement and tips for achieving victory. The world of Call of Duty : Modern Warfare II is in chaos with a global power struggle playing out in plain sight.

Gunfight 101
In Gunfight, two teams of two compete in a round-based match. There are no respawns and no health regeneration, and all players are assigned the same randomized Loadout at the start of each round. The assigned Loadout changes every two rounds, and you never know what you're going to get; you may be trading shots from afar with Sniper Rifles one round, then rushing in with Shotguns the next. Each Loadout includes a lethal and tactical equipment.

Cheating in the online portions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Warzone is a well-identified issue by now. It has led to a considerable fall in the number of players actually engaging in the crossplay mechanic between console and PC gamers, with the PC platform naturally being the one most open to cheating efforts. Besides heavy-handed bans already conducted by Infinity Ward, which saw some seventy thousand players being banned, the developer in a Twitter post clarified some more ways in which it will be tackling the cheating issue: with specific matchmaking between players suspected of cheating in online play, thus populating servers with those players and leaving non-suspect players to their - expectedly - cleaner gaming environment.

Of course, it might be difficult to completely populate servers or matches with cheating players, but that isn't the question; in fact, it might serve the effort better if those servers were left sparser, so as to further intensify cheaters' notion of what the consequences can be of their anti-competitive behavior.

Activision today announced the reincarnation of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, called Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered. "Originally developed by Infinity Ward, and now remastered by Beenox, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered delivers the full story experience with stunning high-definition visuals and the latest audio advancements. Whether you lived it back in 2009 or have yet to play this iconic blockbuster campaign, this is an experience hailed by critics as one of the most memorable and incredible single-player story campaigns ever." - said Activision in their announcement blog post.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered is now available on the PlayStation 4, while support for the rest of the platforms will come on April 30th. Below you can check out the game trailer.

Activision's latest blockbuster in the Call of Duty franchise has been announced to have brought in something to the tune of $600 million to the company's coffers. That's a whole lot of money - but remember we're talking about an actual finished Call of Duty game that includes a single-player campaign. Yearly installments have proven to not do any harm to Call of Duty - it remains one of the biggest entertainment launches every year, which is part of the reason why Activision has three development studios constantly working on the franchise, with three-year development cycles for each title (this particular release was created by Infinity Ward). That's a big level of commitment, and it usually shows in the finished quality of the games.

The game has overtaken all previous releases in the franchise for this current generation of consoles (and PC). Reasons for that surely include the reference to one of the franchises most beloved entries, the homonymous Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the return of Captain Price, but surely the presence of a single-player campaign and the absence of any microtransactions pulled their weight in this release success. If there were any doubts on Call of Duty keeping its momentum, they have to be postponed to next year's release.

Turtle Beach, the leader in games audio, is announcing a new two-year partnership agreement with Activision Publishing, Inc. involving the blockbuster Call of Duty video game franchise. As part of the agreement, Turtle Beach is unveiling a new line of limited edition headsets optimized for the highly-anticipated Call of Duty: Ghosts, the all-new title in development by famed studio, Infinity Ward.

The ultimate accessory for franchise fans, the new headsets will feature Call of Duty: Ghosts branding, premium finishes and bonus content developed in collaboration with the game's developers, including voice prompts and audio presets. As part of the agreement, Turtle Beach will also create Call of Duty co-branded headsets and related accessories. The new line will be previewed at Turtle Beach's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) booth --Los Angeles Convention Center South Hall #2023 -- from June 11- 13, 2013.

Activision is already going at it in court with Jason West and Vince Zampella over their dismissal from Infinity Ward in 2009, but a clause in a Memorandum of Understanding filed with the lost wages and royalties suit in 2010 could affect the recently announced Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. According to Game Informer, Activision continues to hold the rights to the Call of Duty franchise, but Call of Duty games set in "modern day (post Vietnam), the near future or distant future" would be retained by Infinity Ward. With Black Ops 2 set in 2025, developer Treyarch put a lot of thought in the futuristic setting. An intellectual property attorney said that, if West and Zampella win their suit, Activision could be forced to pull the game, but a more likely scenario is money damages awarded by the court.

However, clause 4(D) at the end of the memorandum specifically states that if IW management (Ward and Zampella) are no longer employed by Activision, then the terms of the memorandum are no longer in effect. This seems to override any potential problem, but it is yet another issue that the court must rule on. With Black Ops 2 setting pre-order records, the game could be a cash cow for Activision. A ruling against the publishing giant, though, could mean West and Zampella would get prime cuts of that cow if the employment clause is not enforced.

Apparently round one goes to Activision in the royal rumble between them and Infinity Ward founders and now ex-employees Jason West and Vincent Zampella over owed royalties. One of the two fraud charges levelled at Activision by former employees and Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vincent Zampella has been dismissed by a US court. The remarkable story of the corporate fallout between Activision and the development pair began in March 2010 when it was revealed that the publisher had both men frog marched out of the Infinity Ward offices. Several employees quit the developer amidst the mud slinging and bitterness of the dispute, with Activision later deciding to sue EA over the whole ordeal. Why EA? Well, claims were made that both West and Zampella were already in bed with Activision's arch rival long before the waters become turbulent. The fact that West and Zampella's new studio, Respawn Entertainment, signed a publishing deal with EA probably didn't help much either.

Once the dust had settled both sides laid bare their claims. Activision argues that the pair had already planned a defection to EA whilst still working on Modern Warfare 2. It currently wants $400m in compensation from EA. West and Zampella, meanwhile, say that they were sacked to save Activision the pain of paying them bonuses and royalties owed to them. Back in the present Activision's success in convincing State Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle to dismiss one of the fraud claims levelled against it is a success, for sure, but it's not enough to stop everyone being dragged into court on May 7th.

Apparently the war between the original creators of the Call of Duty franchise and Activision is going in front of a jury. The big "he said, the monolithic corporation said" video games kerfuffle of 2010, the fallout from Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vincent Zampella leaving Activision then signing up with Electronic Arts, is indeed going to trial. On Wednesday, a California Superior Court judge denied EA's motion for summary judgement on the complex lawsuit, as well as one from West and Zampella, meaning the big Call of Duty mess will go before a jury next year.

Shattering its own day-one sales records, Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, announced that its highly-anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has become the biggest entertainment launch ever with an estimated sell-through of more than $400 million and more than 6.5 million units in North America and the United Kingdom alone in the first 24 hours of its release, according to Charttrack and retail customer sell-through information.

This marks the third consecutive year that the Call of Duty franchise has set day one launch records across all forms of entertainment, something no other entertainment franchise in any medium has ever accomplished. Last year, in North America and the United Kingdom , Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops had estimated day-one sell-through of $360 million and in 2009, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, set day-one records with estimated sell through of $310 million, according to Charttrack and retail customer sell-through information.

On November 8, 2011, millions of fans attended more than 13,000 midnight openings at retail stores worldwide. According to Microsoft, after just two days, the number of gamers playing simultaneously on Xbox Live set a new peak concurrency record.

callofduty.com has published a blog entry from developer Infinity Ward / Sledgehammer detailing some of the features and improvements that will be in the upcoming MW3, to be released on November 8th:

I'm extremely excited about the PC version of Modern Warfare 3 this year, because we've been taking your feedback since Modern Warfare 2,and the franchise as a whole, on what you wanted to see in the PC version of Modern Warfare 3 and the team at Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games has put aton of emphasis on delivering a PC experience that brings in all the great things we added in Modern Warfare 2:
Lobby System, Matchmaking with a Party, Matchmaking for Public Games, Steam Integration (Friends List, Server Browser,Achievements, Join on Friends)
While combining it with your favorite features from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare:
Dedicated Servers (Join your favorite or set up your own,without any 3rd party hosting requirements), In-game Server Browser that allows you to filter by ping, map, gametype, hardcore, voice, password, and more. In addition, we're supporting PC specific features that give you even more control over your experience like RCON, Custom Game Saving, NoGFX / Audio Card Requirement on DS.exe, Voice Chat, and SSAO.

Turtle Beach, pioneers and market-leaders of the gaming headset category, today announced a partnership with Activision to develop a new line of exclusively licensed, limited edition Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Ear Force headsets, custom-optimized to deliver enhanced experiences for the year's most anticipated entertainment launch. Among many planned features, these new premium headsets will be distinguished by unique sets of audio presets designed specifically by the audio teams at developers Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games in order to provide the ultimate immersion into the cinematic world of Modern Warfare 3.

The headsets will be available with compatibility across Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC; with multiple feature sets, special packages with bonus content, and price points to ensure that no player is left behind.

Today HIS unleashes the revolutionary new HIS Radeon HD 5870 2GB GDDR5 Eyefinity 6 Edition. Start experiencing DirectX 11 gaming and HD entertainment with stunning ATI Eyefinity 6 displays capabilities, which delivers incredible scalability, productivity and immersive HD gaming performance.

Powered by the top-of-the-line 5870 GPU, HIS Radeon HD 5870 2GB GDDR5 accelerates PC gaming with up to 2.72 teraFLOPS computing power. Running at 850MHz core clock speed and 4.8Gbps memory clock speed, the, HIS Radeon HD 5870 ensure extreme game play at high resolutions and maximum settings. What's more? The immersive HD gaming experience is brought the next level by ATI Eyefinity6 Technology. This revolutionary multi-display technology allows you to expand your visual real estate across up to 6 displays with innovative "warp around" capabilities to maximum your field of view with incredible sharpness and clarity.

Today HIS unleashed the revolutionary new HIS Radeon HD 5830 iCooler V 1GB GDDR5 Turbo and Standard version. Combined with the high performance dual slot iCooler V and stellar overclocking performance, it delivers most affordable high performance graphics with ATI Eyefinity technology supported. Prepare to plug in for a ridiculously immersive HD gaming experience unlike anything you've ever seen.

iCooler V features a high performance dual slot cooler. It comes with excellent cooling setup, which transfer heat effectively from the GPU to the internal fins around the central fan. Thanks to the elegant design and smoothness of iCooler fan shroud, massive amount of cool air is drawn from the central cooler to cool down the internal fins directly.

The newest addition to the Call of Duty (COD) franchise, Call of Duty: World at War, has outsold the first week sales of Call of Duty 4 by greater than 200%. This title is all set to become Christmas number one, and has gone to the top of the All Formats charts in the UK, according to data from GfK Chart-Track.

The figures are rough, and GfK Chart-Track didn't provide a per-platform breakdown, to provide how the game is being received by different platforms. COD: World at War added more console platform support, with Sony PS2 and Nintendo DS over its predecessor.

Infinity Ward has released the mod tools for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The 603MB download includes everything required to make levels, models and mods for the game. To get people started, Infinity Ward has opened a Wiki with information on using the Call of Duty 4 version of the Radiant level editor. There's also a promise of frequent article additions.

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Developer Infinity Ward has just released the 1.4 patch for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The changes are as follows:

• "Winter Crash", a holiday version of Multiplayer map "Crash"
• Improvements to the server browser
• Fixed some rare bullet accuracy issues for all weapons.
• For server admins: fixed user ban list not working correctly on servers. Ban.txt will be created in the main or fs_game directory

You can download the patch from here.

Developer Infinity Ward has just released the 1.3 patch for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

This patch addresses the issue reported by community member Uzi Kidding which now catches some files bypassing the pure client test. In addition this update will set properties so that Anti-lag is always enabled upon map loads, an optimization for Sniper Rifle accuracty at certain distances, as well a fix so text chat between rounds of multiplayer will no longer cut out at the end. The 1.3 patch will also include all previous fixes from previous patches.

You can download the patch from here.

This is the release of the v1.1 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare patch by Infinity Ward. This patch addresses the issue of Rank / Stat resets reported by users moving from a Modded / Un-ranked server to a non Modded / Ranked Server. This update is not intended to revert back to any previously lost rank, but to prevent the issue from happening in the future.

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