Unless your domicile is under a rock you are probably aware that Activision has sacked the two heads of Call of Duty maker Infinity Ward, over what it termed insubordination.

Following their dismissal, President Jason West and CEO Vince Zampella filed a lawsuit against Activision Publishing, alleging that the pair’s contracts were terminated “weeks before they were to be paid substantial royalty payments as part of their existing contracts for Modern Warfare 2.” The suit claims “breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, wrong termination in violation of public policy, and declaratory relief.” 

The duo’s lawyer, Robert Schwartz of O'Melveny & Myers LLP, stated:

Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public, last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual 'investigation' into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of 'insubordination' and 'breach of fiduciary duty,' which then became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st.”

Additionally, a press release announcing the lawsuit stated:

Modern Warfare 2 is arguably one of the most successful games in history and together with Call of Duty, has generated more than $3 billion in sales for Activision.  In addition, Activision seized control of the Infinity Ward studio, to which Activision had previously granted creative control over all Modern Warfare-branded games.  The suit was filed to vindicate the rights of West and Zampella to be paid the compensation they have earned, as well as the contractual rights Activision granted to West and Zampella to control Modern Warfare-branded games.

In response to the lawsuit, Activision stated that it “was disappointed” and believes that the claims are “meritless.” G4 managed to get their hands on internal legal documents from Activision which indicated that the company is looking for documents to possibly use against West and Zampella.

Here’s what Activision is looking for specifically:

• "Documents regarding past, current or future IW projects, including but not limited to any and all businesses analyses of future projects (e.g. Modern Warfare 3)"
• "Documents regarding any potential 'spin out' of IW, including but not limited to any communications with IW employees, West or Zampella regarding forming a new studio independent of Activision"
• "Documents regarding West and Zampella's communications with Activision's competitors, including but not limited to Electronic Arts"

So, it appears Activision’s actions against the IW pair may have been in reaction to a fear that they were going to jump ship to another publisher or form their own new studio.  Note that when Infinity Ward was formed in 2002, it was made up of a group of former developers from 2015, Inc., who developed Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, which was in turn published by Electronic Arts.

Those that need to catch up on the drama should head over to G4, which has been all over the “Fall of Duty” story.

A group of King’s Quest enthusiasts who have been working on their own content for the 1990s-era adventure game have been forced to abandon their project due to action from Activision.

A variety of King’s Quest games were released under the Sierra label in the 1990s. Volunteers began work on their project, dubbed The Silver Lining, back in 2002 under the name of Phoenix Online Studios, reports Kotaku. While initially they ran into problems with Sierra’s parent company Vivendi Universal—receiving a cease-and-desist order in 2005—a public backlash over the cancellation of the game more or less forced Vivendi to grant a non-commercial “fan license” to the project.

Everything remained status quo until recently, when Activision, which merged with Vivendi in 2008, issued a cease-and-desist to Phoenix Online, indicating “that they are not interested in granting a non-commercial license to The Silver Lining.”

GP’s own legal guru Dan Rosenthal offered his take on the revocation of the non-commercial fan license:

It's always unfortunate when you have a lot of hard work on a fan project go to waste. Unfortunately the real problem here for Phoenix Online was the bad luck of Sierra changing hands from Cendant to Vivendi Universal to Activision Blizzard. Changes of ownership often bring with them changing priorities, and who knows what sort of future Activision sees for the IP. Like many independent studios, Phoenix Online simply wouldn't be able to afford the cost of ignoring the cease-and-desist letter and risking a potential copyright infringement lawsuit.

The real damage here, however, comes from the chilling effect that this sort of action places on fan studios operating under non-commercial licenses (or even worse, no license but a "wink and a nudge" from the IP holder). Now, every fan project going forward is going to be reminded of the Sword of Damocles over their heads from pouring their efforts into someone else's IP.

The Texas-based Patent Compliance Group has filed a lawsuit against Activision Publishing over what it terms false marking, or products improperly labeled with patent or patent-pending language used for the purpose of “deceiving the public.”

Specifically, the suit, filed February 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (though we are looking at an amended complaint filed February 22), levels three charges against Activision:

• Marked products with patents having a scope which does not cover the marked products
• Marked products with language indicating that the products are the subject of pending patent applications when no relevant application is pending and/or
• Used in advertising in connection with unpatented products the word “patent” and/or any word or number importing that the product is patented.

The complaint alleges that “false patent marking is a serious problem,” and that “acts of false marking deter innovation and stifle competition in the marketplace.”

The complaint lists a plethora of specific patents and accuses Activision of using them “out of scope” in products including DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero, Guitar Hero Van Halen and Guitar Hero Metallica. As an example, one patent the complaint calls out is number 5,739,457, entitled Method and Apparatus for Simulating a Jam Session and Instructing a User How to Play the Drums.  The suit labels Activision’s use of the patent as out of scope because, as an example, the original patent covered “an apparatus that comprises a money validation unit to accept and validate a user’s money and a video display system and a control system for receiving an input from the money validation unit,” faculties which consoles do not possess. Patent 5,739,457 can be viewed as a call out at the bottom of Activision’s Guitar Hero Mobile site.

Regarding use of the phrase “patent pending,” plaintiff accuses the defendant of using such terminology on DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero and Guitar Hero Smash Hits when “defendant knew that the Patent Pending Marked Products did not have any associated patent applications pending.”

The suit was filed under a qui tam action, which permits members of the public to sue on behalf of the government and seeks damages of “not more than $500 for each of Defendant’s violations, with half going to the Patent Compliance Group and half to the U.S. government. As Gamasutra notes, with the titles listed in this complaint having sold millions of units, per incident damages could wind up totaling an extremely hefty amount of cash.

If anyone’s interested in receiving a copy of the complaint, email me (pete@...).


|Via Gamasutra|

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is definitely not afraid to speak his mind, which may or may not be a good thing for investors in his company. His recent comments at the D.I.C.E. Summit did nothing to change that perception.

While Kotaku labeled his speech “warm and fuzzy,” one section of his talk centered on why he doesn’t play games anymore, and caught our attention:

I play from time to time, but the nature of my personality is such that if I was regularly playing Modern Warfare 2, I would not be able to stop and it would be at the expense of all my regular responsibilities.

What does it say about the addictiveness of videogames if the CEO of the third largest publisher in the world can’t play games because of his addictive personality? Granted, as CEO, Kotick’s days are probably packed incredibly tight, and, as he admitted, he is a single father to three daughters, so it’s probably commendable that he puts aside games for work and his family, Still, it’s not a stretch to imagine videogame critics jumping all over Kotick’s quote and using it in future assaults on videogames.

What do you think? Another case of Kotick sticking his foot in it, or is this just a case of a CEO letting his hair down and talking from the heart?

Kotick's full speech embedded via G4.

Activision’s Blizzard’s Call of Duty Endowment (CODE), which provides funding to assist war veterans, has announced another funding initiative.

CODE’s first donation was a $125,000 endowment to the Paralyzed Veterans of America, which enabled the group to open a vocational rehab center. Via Bloomberg we learn that CODE’s second major donation will be a $100,000 grant to the Wounded Warrior Project, a Florida-based charity that assists injured veterans transitioning to either civilian life or new military positions. The funds will be used to open a new Transition Training Academy (TTA).

CODE also provided assistance to the families of victims from last year’s Fort Hood shooting.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick told Bloomberg that he hopes to grow CODE’s endowments to between $50.0 and $100.0 million by the end of this decade. Current CODE funding totals about $1.0 million.

Kotick added:

Being able to meet these brave men and women and hear their stories firsthand has strengthened my conviction that the private sector as well as the government is responsible for ensuring they have employment and that we don’t penalize them for their years of service to this country.”

Note: The Bloomberg story puts CODE’s grant to the Paralyzed Veterans of America at $375,000, versus our original story which reported it as a $125,000 grant. Official PR (PDF) announcing the founding of CODE put the figure at $125,000, so we will stick with that.

As part of its annual awards, the National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers Corp. will honor the founder of GamePolitics with a special award.

Dennis McCauley, who also wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer in addition to manning the helm here, will be receiving a special Honorary Award for his “contributions to the gaming community and gaming journalism.”

Additionally, 209 nominees were announced across 47 categories for awards designed to pay respect to the interactive entertainment industry’s best in the fields of art technology and production. Sony led the way with 47 total nominations, followed by Electronic Arts with 28, Activision with 20 and Eidos with 18.

Game of the Year nominees include Batman: Arkham Asylum, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Batman: Arkham Asylum also led the way among games in total nominations, with 17, followed closely by Uncharted 2’s 16 nominations.

A voting body of 640 journalists and writers picked the nominees. Winners will be announced on February 27.

Congratulations Dennis!

We will have to find a new nickname for professional plaintiff/serial suer Erik Estavillo, as he is dropping all his lawsuits.

Estavillo wrote that his medical conditions, particularly symptoms related to panic disorder and Crohn’s disease, contributed to his decision to abandon the cases. He indicated that the long wait for cases to be heard was starting to get to him, causing his doctors to advise him to walk away from the lawsuits in order to improve his health. Estavillo also provided us with some individual reasons for dropping each case, mostly due to those being sued making improvements or fixes which seemed to appease Erik.

Estavillo had sued Sony over being banned from the PlayStation Network following Resistance: Fall of Man online gaming sessions. He had alleged that Sony was ineffective at stopping players under the age of 17 from playing the game and that banning him from the network amounted to theft, in regards to his PSN pre-paid points. Estavillo wrote that a signup page for PSN appears to have been added, which requires a parent or master account to add a new account to a PS3, addressing his concern of younger kids playing the game.

Erik has also sued Microsoft over a red ring of death on his Xbox 360 and Nintendo over a Wii system update that rendered his homebrew channel unusable. Estavillo said he just learned that Microsoft is not charging 360 owners to fix a console that received a RROD and that he has found many websites that would easily allow him to re-install the home brew channel if he so chose to do so.

A suit against World of Warcraft maker Activision Blizzards had alleged that characters in WOW walked to slow, thus enabling the game’s publisher to continue to reap monthly subscription fees as it took long periods of time just to travel in the game. Estavillo notes that now, it appears that WOW avatars walk much faster in Ghost mode.

Another factor in dropping the suits was that Estavillo could not afford to pay the process server fees needed to serve the people he had subpoenaed for some of his cases. Those subpoenaed by Estavillo had included Bill Gates, Winona Ryder, Depeche Mode’s Martin Lee Gore, Lady Sovereign and Krayzie Bone.

Estavillo will also drop his most recent case, which targeted a variety of gaming and popular websites for libel.

The lack of dead U.S. civilians portrayed in Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 implies that foreign civilians are more expendable than their American counterparts.

This is the vein of a column appearing in France24, in which the author notes that the game’s Brazilian and “No Russian” levels feature plenty of dead civilian bodies, while a level set in Washington D.C. depicts nary a body from American non-combatants.

Mehdi Chebil writes:

But while Activision producers go to great lengths to depict fatally wounded Russian civilians leaving big streaks of blood as they crawl on the airport floor – all in the name of realism - they designed the US-based levels in such a way that no virtual American civilian can be seen nor hurt.

An Activision representative refused to comment “…on the use of civilians in our games.”

The author also thinks that the media focused too much on the game’s overall violence:

The fact that critics focused their attacks on the generic violence of “Modern Warfare 2”, forgetting its big red 18 rating, without playing enough of the game to see the discrimination it applies within its civilian categories, also reveals another form of contempt for the entire video game industry.

He encourages the media to “pay attention to some of the videogame industry’s more disturbing messages.”

GP: Just to play devil’s advocate, the “No Russian” airport level could feature American civilians… there’s no way to know without checking passports or ids.

70.0% of parents pay “close” attention to videogame ratings when making a purchase for themselves or their children according to a new study from Activision Publishing and The Harrison Group.

The survey was conducted as part of Activision’s Ratings Are Not a Game initiative, which is designed to educate parents and consumers further on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) rating system.

Additional survey statistics showed that 63.0% of parents with children consider themselves a gamer, with that number increasing to 83.0% for parents 35 years of age and younger. Additionally, 82.0% of gamers indicated awareness of ESRB ratings, as did 75.0% of children.

76.0% of adults surveyed indicated they were comfortable with videogames being a part of their family’s activities.

Gamers also spent an average of 32.0% of their free time on entertainment, with 19.0% of that time spent on videogames.

Mike Griffith, Activision Publishing President and CEO, added:

Parents rely on and value the ESRB ratings in helping them decide which games to allow their children to play. Our 'Ratings Are Not A Game' education initiative underscores our commitment to helping parents better understand and utilize the ratings system as they select age appropriate games and determine the best way for the entire family to enjoy the gaming experience.

Research was culled from 1,201 online surveys of videogamers, and their parents, between the ages of 6 and 44.

An Indiana man wanted on drug charges was tracked down in Canada, thanks to his World of Warcraft addiction.

Following a 2007 warrant issued for his arrest, Alfred Hightower of Howard County, Indiana had fled to Canada reports KokomoPerspective.com. Hightower was wanted on charges of dealing marijuana and both schedule III and IV controlled substances.

Detective Matt Roberson began tracking the wanted man using information obtained from a childhood friend of Hightower’s. Roberson eventually learned of Hightower’s dependence on WOW and subpoenaed Activision Blizzard for more information on the fugitive.

The publisher's cooperation seemed to surprise Roberson:

“They don’t have to respond to us, and I was under the assumption that they wouldn’t,” said Roberson. “It had been three or four months since I had sent the subpoena. I just put it in the back of my mind and went on to do other things. Then I finally got a response from them. They sent me a package of information. They were very cooperative. It was nice that they were that willing to provide information.”

After zeroing in on Hightower’s location using a combination of WOW billing address, IP address and Google Earth, Canadian authorities were alerted and Hightower was nabbed in Ottawa, Canada and deported to Minnesota, where U.S. Marshals held him for Howard County authorities.

The article also features a link to a WOW Armory listing for Hightower’s character, a Level 80 Tauren Shaman.

Thanks Dan!

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 raked in more than $550 million in its first week of sales, making it the most popular entertainment launch in history. That popularity has also shown up in the number of unauthorized downloads, topping the charts as the most pirated game of 2009.

According to numbers posted at TorrentFreak, as of November, the PC version of MW2 had been downloaded from BitTorrent more than 4.1 million times, with the Xbox 360 version being downloaded another 970,000 times. Those numbers far exceed Spore on the PC and Street Fighter IV on the 360, both coming in second.

According to the article:

The overall trend across all platforms is that, unlike last year, all of the games are 2009 releases. What makes Modern Warfare 2’s chart-topping even more impressive is that this has been achieved after just two months of availability. We further see that the figures for the most downloaded titles have more than doubled compared to last year, equaling the growth in uTorrent users.

The top Wii game to be downloaded was New Super Mario Bros. with 1.15 million downloads.

(Thanks to DarkSaber for the tip, since we know he loves posts on MW2 and Activision)

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is targeting at least one operator of a commercial Guitar Hero arcade unit over what it says are unpaid licensing fees associated with operating the game.

The operator in question posted on the Arcade-Museum forums (thanks TechDirt) that ASCAP is demanding an $800 a year license to operate the unit legally. The operator added that, while his place of business does have live musical acts, they are relegated to performing original (i.e. their own) songs in order to circumvent just such a need to pay a royalty fee.

While there might be some confusion on either or both sides if a consumer version of Guitar Hero was being used, it’s rather clear that in this case a commercial arcade unit is at the center of the story, as the site operator indicated he told the ASCAP representative to contact Raw Thrills, a purveyor of arcade units, including Guitar Hero.  Also, the ASCAP rep told the operator that she viewed the Guitar Hero unit as a jukebox of sorts.

ASCAP’s licensing FAQ contains the question “I'm interested in playing music in my restaurant or other business. I know that I need permission for live performances. Do I need permission if I am using only CD's, records, tapes, radio or TV?”

The answer posted on the site:

Yes, you will need permission to play records or tapes in your establishment. Permission for radio and television transmissions in your business is not needed if the performance is by means of public communication of TV or radio transmissions by eating, drinking, retail or certain other establishments of a certain size which use a limited number of speakers or TVs, and if the reception is not further transmitted (for example, from one room to another) from the place in which it is received, and there is no admission charge.

We have a request for clarification into ASCAP and will update this story if a response or statement is issued.

Update: AN ASCAP spokesperson told GP, "ASCAP is currently in negotiations with the manufacturer for the commercial use of these machines."

Color-blind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 gamers have started an online petition in the hopes that it will convince developer Infinity Ward to release a patch for the game that addresses their needs.

In multiplayer MW2 matches, the quickest way to tell a teammate from an enemy is if their name is in red (enemy) or green (teammate). The same colors are used in the game’s radar, which allows players to view the location of others, both friend and foe. The petition cites statistics that 8.0% of all males are color blind and 0.5% of females.

A glitch of some kind has also affected the Xbox 360 version of Modern Warfare 2. As noted on Geek.com, in multiplayer matches, players are running around with unlimited ammo, firing off their noob tubes at will. Rumor is it’s the result of a modder’s exploit that gets passed around to everyone in the online game, residing in the 360’s cache. Disconnecting from Xbox Live and rebooting the console seems to get rid of the problem. Infinity Ward is aware of the problem and has promised a fix.


|Via Evil Avatar|

Activision has filed a countersuit against rockers No Doubt, alleging breach of contract and unjust enrichment.

The move comes in response to No Doubt’s suit of Activision over the ability of gamers to use No Doubt on-screen avatars to perform other band’s music in the game Band Hero. No Doubt claimed that such an implementation relegated them to a “virtual karaoke act.”

Activision’s counterclaim was filed December 3 in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, Western Division. As part of the complaint (full PDF available here), Activision attached a copy of a Professional Services and Character License Agreement between the parties, dated May 21, 2009. Activision wrote that the contract “speaks for itself,” and denied allegations of wrong doing.

In response to No Doubt’s main complaint, Activision wrote:

Activision admits that although it is possible to program a videogame whereby particular in-game characters can only be selected when certain songs are played, Plaintiff first requested this only after the "Band Hero" programming was finalized, had been submitted to all of the U.S. console manufacturers for approval and had been approved for manufacture by most console manufacturers…

Activision is seeking judgment in its favor, unspecified damages and interest, a return from No Doubt of all benefits and payments, an order for No Doubt to pay the “full cost of this action” and “reasonable” attorney fees, along with further awards and relief that the Court “deems just and proper.”


|Via The Hollywood Reporter|

Since it’s Monday and we can all use a bit of levity, check out the embedded video from Nexon, the developer of Combat Arms.

The video spoofs Infinity Ward’s now infamous Fight Against Grenade Spam (F.A.G.S.) video, which called out grenade spammers in the Call of Duty series. Nexon applies the same anti-explosive theme to its online, multiplayer first-person shooter. Video funding was provided by “Fight Against Nade Spammers (F.A.N.S.).”

This video is not immune to criticism either however: several YouTube commenters note that the bleeped out curse words in the video are the same ones that got them banned from Combat Arms itself.

Retailer Game, Activision and Xbox Live have teamed up for a UK-based charity drive based around Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Activision will donate £1 to the War Child charity for every UK gamer playing MW2 on Xbox Live on December 5th and 6th. Additionally, Xbox Live Gold Memberships will be free that weekend in an effort to boost participation in Games for Good.

War Child benefits children affected by war.

World of Warcraft maker Activision Blizzard is the latest target of a lawsuit by serial suer (or professional plaintiff) Erik Estavillo.

Filed this morning in the Civil Division of the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, the civil complaint charges Activision Blizzard with “deceitful” business practices, as it “continues to maintain a harmful virtual environment to many of its customers by forcing them to follow the game’s sneaky and deceitful practices.”

Among Estavillo’s claims is that WOW is designed for a gamer “to walk or run at a calculated slow pace, resulting in the player taking longer to get where he or she needs to go in the game.” This slow pace, says the plaintiff, leads to a longer time needed to finish game play or quests, in turn leading to more subscription revenue for Activision Blizzard.

Estavillo also complains that faster transportation is not available until a player levels up accordingly, or purchases an expansion pack.

The plaintiff then likens his health problems (OCD, Agoraphobia, Panic Disorder, major depression and Crohn’s Disease) to the afflictions that ailed the late EverQuest gamer Shawn Woolley, who took his own life on Thanksgiving morning in 2001.  Estavillo stated that he “doesn’t want to end up like Shawn did as he [Estavillo] relies on videogames heavily for the little ongoing happiness he can achieve in this life.”

Estavillo subpoenaed Depeche Mode founder Martin Lee Gore and actress Winona Ryder to provide testimony on his behalf regarding the subject of alienation.

Gore was subpoenaed because “he himself has been known to be sad, lonely, and alienated as can be seen in the songs he writes,” and Ryder because of her and Estavillo’s common interest in the J.D. Salinger book The Catcher in the Rye. Ryder would be able to, “explain the significance of alienation in Catcher in the Rye and will also testify to how alienation in the book can tie to alienation in real live/video games such as World of Warcraft.”

Estavillo is seeking punitive damages of $1.0 million and a court order that WOW implement changes that address the issues of his complaint.

Other lawsuits filed by Estavillo include one against Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), following a banning from the PlayStation Network, and a recent suit that targeted Microsoft and Nintendo—the former over an Xbox 360 red ring of death and the latter over a firmware update that disabled his Homebrew Channel.

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has sold another chunk of his stock options, benefiting from the stock rise after the enormous sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 after one week.

Kotick, who netted about $20 million from selling options last week, sold another 1.68 million shares at around $11.61 to $11.72 a share. This was from the same pool of options that vested in 2000 for $1.035 a share. The resulting profit was around $17 million, according to a Gamasutra story.

In August, Kotick brought in another $25 million when he sold about 2 million shares.

GP: There was no indication whether Kotick blew his nose, or had a gold-encrusted bowel movement, but we'll keep watching just for loyal reader Darksaber.

Hot on the heels of trememdous first-day sales for the controversial sequel Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Activision's CEO and a member of the Activision board have exercised some lucrative stock options.

According to a Gameindustry.biz report, CEO Bobby Kotick made more than $20 million this week when he exercised options on close to 1.93 million shares of stock. The options, dated from April 18, 2000, allowed him to buy the shares for $1.03 and sell them for between $11.43 and $11.54.

Also this week, director Brian Kelly exercised options he received in 2004 and 2006 to clear about $10.5 million.

Funny stuff, but what else would you expect.

Looks like Infinity Ward provided some assistance as well.

Whether it was planned in advance or a reaction to all of the recent negative press, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 publisher Activision Blizzard has said it will donate $1 million tomorrow to set up the Call of Duty Endowment (CODE) to support other groups that help veterans find jobs. Veterans' Day is Wednesday.

According to a story in the Washington Post, the new foundation comes at a time when President Obama is scheduled to sign an executive order creating the Council on Veterans Employment. Several private and government-backed organizations are stepping forward to aid returning veterans with the challenges they face after their service.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said:

"The joblessness rate that [veterans] should have should be far less than the national average, not more. How do you expect people to actually join the military if when they leave the military they can't integrate back into the free market they're supposed to be protecting?"

The story said that CODE will make it's first donation of $125,000 to the Paralyzed Veterans of America "to open and vocational rehabilitation center."

"These are super-capable people," Kotick said. "To the extent that you can put them on track to develop more skills, the development potential that we've identified is extraordinary."

GP: The story stayed focused on the plight of veterans' finding jobs, but this writer wonders whether the endowment, announced so close to the release of MW2, is purely a public relations ploy to take the negative light off the controversy surrounding the terrorist sequence with civilians in the game. It's hard to look negatively on any gift that will aid veterans, but the name of the foundation as well as timing of endowment just seems more staged than magnanimous. 

Are you getting Modern Warfare’d out yet?

Spoilers below, so avoid reading if you are in a self-imposed Modern Warfare 2 blackout.

Outside of issuing a rather benign statement, since leaked video surfaced that showed gamers apparently playing a role in a terrorist attack Activision and developer Infinity Ward have been relatively quiet in regards to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Actually, quiet is a relative term, and fitting if you don’t include the ill-received F.A.G.S. video released, and then pulled, at the end of last week. Anyway, in response to a thread on the GetOffTheX website forums in which the leaked footage was being discussed, inside information on the title was shared from someone claiming to be a member of the Infinity Ward development team.

On the initial internal reaction to the action in the leaked level:

I work for IW. When I heard what they wanted to do I KNEW it would be a bad idea. They said that it needed to be done to get the right "feel" and that it was part of the story.

After some more give and take about the subject on the forums, the user came back and added:

I can't tell you how many people thought this level was a bad idea. The higher ups wanted to push it. Activision gave them the thumbs up and they went with it.

More on the player’s role in the terrorist scene in question, perhaps answering the question of what “skipping” means exactly:

You are under cover. You have joined a bad guy team and they are going to set up "the Russians" What you do is shoot stuff up but not the bad guys or people in the airport.

GP: This jibes with a higher-resolution video of the level in question that is currently on the MapModNews website. This version of the video actually shows a player shooting a civilian in the airport. The action immediately stops and a warning in German pops up on the screen, “Sie haben einen Zivilisten getroffen. Vorsicht beim Feuern!” Google translates this as “They have taken a civilian. Be careful when firing!” While certainly something is lost in the translation there, the fact that the level restarts when you shoot a civilian certainly implies that you are merely an observer in this mission.


Thanks Dan!

A VentureBeat story details how Activision Blizzard was able to track down a pirate selling Xbox 360 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 bundles on Craigslist, and how the cracking of that crime led to the arrest of another individual selling illegal copies of the game.

The game in question, of course, doesn’t come out until November 10, prompting the publisher to call in IPCybercrime, a Dallas-based private investigation firm that specializes in online crimes. Turns out, employees at a retail outlet had stolen a crate of the bundles from a store.

However, the thieves had already sold a bundle to a software cracker that was able to figure out how to make illegal dupes of MW2. In what was probably not a coincidence, copies of the game started to make their way onto online torrent and peer-to-peer websites soon after.

Using an email address from a forum post, investigators were able to link a Facebook account to the poster and then, in turn, link an address to the Facebook account. Following a buy/bust sting involving a physical copy of MW2, police were able to pin the crime on 18-year old Christian Del Amo of Miami (pictured).

IPCybercrime’s owner, Rob Holmes, said Del AMo was in position to sell “thousands” of the illegal copies.

The forced integration of the PC version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with Valve’s Steamworks platform has turned off other digital game distribution services.

IGN-owned Direct2Drive has opted not to offer MW2 on its service reports Gamasutra, calling the forced use of Steam a “Trojan Horse.” The company will offer $5 off other Activision games as compensation. From a statement on Direct2Drive’s website:

At Direct2Drive, 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.

Meanwhile, VoodooExtreme received confirmation from both Stardock and GamersGate that neither of those two services will sell MW2 either. Stardock elaborated to VE on the reasoning for not selling MW2 through their Impulse service:

We share some of the same concerns as Direct2Drive over the bundling of the Steam client with the game. The most obvious issue is the forced inclusion of a competitor's store that blocks us from carrying the game.

Our issues with the game are solely with the Steamworks bundling. We enjoy a great relationship with Activision and would love to sell the title, but not with Steam.

GP: A commenter on the Gamasutra story noted that Direct2Drive offers other games that require a Steam install, such as Zeno Clash. Of course that game will not move nearly the amount of copies MW2 will, so it appears in this case that IGN/Direct2Drive is just being selective in its stand against Steam.

Hot on the heals of the release of Activision's Band Hero, the group No Doubt has filed suit against the game publisher for turning them into a "virtual karaoke circus act."

According to the Los Angeles Times, the suit alleges No Doubt's contract with Activision only allowed the band's likeness to be used in three of its own songs, but in reality the band can be made to sing up to 62 different songs through the game's Character Manipulation feature.

According to the band's manager:

“The band [members] are bitterly disappointed that their name and likeness was taken and used without their permission,” manager Jim Guerinot said today. “They agreed to play three No Doubt songs as a band.... Activision then went and put them in 62 other songs and broke the band up [and] never even asked.”

To which Activision replied:

“Activision believes it is within its legal rights with respect to the use and portrayal of the band members in the game and that this lawsuit is without merit.”

The LAT article quotes a lot of back and forth between the band's manager and Activision's official statement. It will be interesting to see how the suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, will pan out.

This isn't the first time Activision's "Hero" franchise of music games has faced controversy. In September, Courtney Love complained of the use of Kurt Cobain's likeness in Guitar Hero 5. While Activision said it had approval from Love to use Cobain's likeness, she later said she never approved the avatar.

The seemingly constant storm clouds surrounding the upcoming Activision-published and Infinity Ward-developed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 have not done much, if anything, to negatively influence pre-sales of the title.

Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter thinks the title can reap global sales of in excess of $500 million in its first week of release reports Industry Gamers. Pachter also believes that the game could sell over 10.0 million units in this year’s fourth quarter.

Across the pond, MCVUK talks about the Modern Warfare 2 selling 1.7 million units in its first week at retail in the UK, citing pre-order numbers for the game at around 500,000 already. Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto IV currently holds the UK mark for unit sales in a week, with 926,000, a number that MW2 could obliterate. Factor in the rising price (suggested retail prices at least) of videogames in the UK and MW2 setting a record for gross dollars culled at launch seems almost a given.

In light of all the controversy surrounding the game, Destructoid posted a pair of opinion pieces, one stating why the author would support MW2 and the other stating why he wouldn’t.

From the “support” side, discussing "the scene" leaked to the Internet, Jim Sterling states, “Whether you approve of the scene, find it disturbing, love it or just don't care, I believe that this is a scene that needs to happen, and was bound to happen sooner or later.”

Brad Rice takes the “can’t support” side, arguing, “The way that the plot is likely being handled comes across with a lot of the wrong messages, and shows a poor method of thinking when it comes to the sensitivity of the issue.”

The lack of dedicated servers for the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 upset computer gamers enough to start a petition, which has reached almost 180,000 signatures at the time of this post, up from 96,000 when we first covered the story two weeks ago. Unfortunately for PC gamers—as evidenced on a pretty nifty Amazon pre-order page detailing MW2 pre-orders (thanks Kotaku)—the PC version accounts for a small amount of sales versus its console brethren.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 hits retail in the U.S. next Tuesday, November 10. Are you getting it? Did any of this controversy impact your decision?

Update: Via USA Today comes word that MW2 has officially broken the record for pre-orders at GameStop. Tony Bartel, EVP for Merchandising and Marketing told the paper, “As of today, the number of pre-order reservations we've taken for the game is the highest for any title we've ever sold in our 6,200 store network."

|Image Via TopatoCo|

Activision Publishing Inc. has linked up with Dr. Cheryl Olson in a bid to enable parents and teachers to “optimize” children’s videogame experience.

Dr. Olson, no stranger to this site, is co-director of the Center for Mental Health and Media at Massachusetts General Hospital and co-author of Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games.

The partnership will result in a series of seven videos posted on Activision’s Ratings Are Not a Game website. The first two are already up:  Using Videogames to Teach Problem Solving and Planning and How Can I Tell if a Game is Appropriate for My Child and How Do I Set Play Limits.

Dr. Olson stated, “These videos give practical research-based advice on how to help your kids--and your family--get more out of video games, and how to watch for and limit electronic game play.”

In related news, Dr. Olson’s husband and co-author of Grand Theft Childhood, Dr. Lawrence Kutner, has been appointed Executive Director of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.

As China’s General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) and the Ministry of Culture continue to flex their muscles over control of the country’s game industry, World of Warcraft gamers and operators are feeling the brunt of the infighting between the two entities.

Reuters reports that GAPP has stripped NetEase of the ability to operate The Burning Crusade, the latest version of WOW. GAPP cited a “gross violation” of regulations and ordered NetEase to stop charging users to play the game and to cease taking new subscriptions.

NetEase has since responded, saying that they “believe that they are in full compliance with applicable PRC laws and are currently seeking clarification from the relevant governmental authorities.”

Roth Capital Partners analyst Adam Krejcik said of NetEase, “These guys are essentially stuck in the middle of this power struggle.”

Until September of this year, GAPP was responsible for approving all game content within China. The Ministry of Culture assumed some of these duties, but GAPP appears unwilling to give up its authority, leading to the current infighting. WOW was launched in China on September 19 with Ministry of Culture approval, but no GAPP approval, which is now coming back to haunt NetEase.

Analysts estimate that Chinese WOW activity contributes 5 or 6 cents a year per share to Activision’s earnings.


Thanks Greenfenri

The missteps following Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 continue as a video posted online Friday night raised the ire of both journalists and fans of the series.

Starring Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels, the video was designed to highlight the problem of grenade spam within the Call of Duty series, but an unfortunate acronym pushed the video from funny to offensive reports Destructoid. The mock public service announcement was provided by an organization called Fight Against Grenade Spam (F.A.G.S.) and had Hamels proclaiming that random grenades “are for pussies.”

Game Informer’s Philip Kollar Tweeted that video was “stupid and makes me reconsider my purchase more than any other controversy surrounding the game thus far,” while freelance writer Mitch Dyer wrote that “The problem is that it was so poorly handled/executed that it looks derogatory.”

Infinity Ward Community Manager Robert Bowling responded on Twitter that “the core gag is great, the end is a bit too far from the intent of the joke & can appreciate the concerns,” and pulled the video.

Update: Several copies of the video are still on YouTube for those who haven't seen it.

Is Activision taking a little liberty with their explanation of a leaked controversial scene from its upcoming title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2?

In a response issued earlier this week, Activision stated that gamers had the option of “skipping” over the controversial scene in question, which had players taking part in a terrorist act. The publisher’s statement doesn’t exactly jibe with a description of the game as presented in the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s rating information page for the title.

Spoiler ahead! Avoid if you’re trying to maintain a media blackout on MW2.

The ESRB’s description of the terrorist scene:

The most intense depiction of violence occurs during a "No Russian" mission where players take on the role of an undercover Ranger: Several civilians are gunned down at an airport as players are given a choice to participate in the killings (e.g., players can shoot a wounded civilian that is crawling on the ground), or walk by and observe without opening fire.

In my mind, an option for “skipping” the scene would mean avoiding/not seeing all the action within that specific chapter, which, to be honest, if implemented, could interfere with or ruin the storyline of the game. Observing, as used by the ESRB, implies that the player is still fully immersed in the action, just not pressing the “fire” button on a controller or mouse.

Semantics? Perhaps, but it appears Activision’s explanation is a little misleading. We have a request for clarification on the matter in to Activision and will update this post if/when they respond.

Thanks Andrew!