Report: Sledgehammer and Infinity Ward co-developing MW3 for November release
According to a report over on the LA Times, Activision has tasked Sledgehammer with co-development duties on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 with Infinity Ward. This is according to “people familiar with the situation,” and will add to burgeoning rumors surrounding the next installment in the monster shooter franchise.
Still not officially announced by Activision, the game is reportedly “well into production and is expected to come out in November.”
LA Times sources have said Sledgehammer and Infinity Ward are “equally sharing duties of producing the single-player portion of the game,” and confirmed the rumor that Raven Software is working on the online multiplayer portion.
Unconfirmed reports last year had Raven working on map packs for Treyarch’s Black Ops, the first of which is slated for a February 1 release and called First Strike
According to the source, borrowing the Sledgehammer team has delayed the Call Of Duty spin-off game it was rumored to be working on, in order to keep Modern Warfare 3 on schedule since the firing of Infinity Ward heads Vince Zampella and Jason West and the employee exodus that followed.
Earlier in the month, a job listing for a community manager was posted by Activision, seeking someone to help “build and drive the studio community management effort for Sledgehammer and the next Call of Duty game.”
Activision has confirmed previously that Infinity Ward was working on a new Call of Duty title.
Court filings claim Infinity Ward delayed CoD map pack at EA’s request, EA claims email “was a joke”
Kotaku has gotten its hands on an internal email belonging to EA, which suggests Infinity Ward put off releasing a map pack for Modern Warfare 2 at the request of the firm. The letter was released today as part of court filing in the Activision suit against EA and Infinity Ward co-founders Vince Zampella and Jason West.
Here’s an excerpt from the mail:
It was written by EA’s senior director of global marketing Lincoln Hershberger, and sent to quite a few executives including EA Games head Frank Gibeau.
Activision added Electronic Arts to its ongoing lawsuit against West and Zampella back in December.
Joystiq has more quotes from the emails here, as well as more quotes from the court documents.
Meanwhile, EA spokesman Jeff Brown said the email was a joke, and should not be taken as anything more.
“This was obviously sarcasm,” he said. “It’s clear from the email this was a joke and they never spoke. We explained this to lawyers at Activision – who apparently don’t have much of a sense of humor.”
The emails in question were handed over to Activision by EA as a part of the legal proceedings, and were allowed into the public record by the Los Angeles Superior Court earlier this week. The new documents include emails between EA execs discussing the hiring of West and Zampella, as well as talking about using a more “aggressive approach” to bring the duo over.
Activision is claiming this is more proof of EA trying to court West and Zampella away from the firm, which, if proven, means both men were in breach of contract by seeking employment elsewhere.
EA purchases the domain CampaignforPCGaming.com
Electronic Arts has a purchased the domain CampaignforPCGaming.com, but what purpose, is not known at present.
Dug up by PC Gamer (via BigDownload), the domain was purchased by the firm back in December, but at present, there is nothing up through the web address.
EA has claimed to be a staunch supporter of PC games in the past, and its record proves it sees PC as a viable platform by releasing exclusives such as: The Sims, Spore, Battlefield Heroes, and Command and Conquer 4.
However, it has a tendency to ignore the platform when it comes to releasing demos of its games. Recent snubs include Bulletstorm, Dead Space 2, and Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, all of which were given demo releases on consoles.
EA has never offered a reason for such exclusions, but opinions on the matter are rather strong over on the PC gaming end. We’ve asked EA for comment on why it isn’t too keen on releasing PC demos, but we’ve yet to hear back on the matter.
As far as the new domain purchase is concerned, we’ll contact EA and see if someone can elaborate on the purchase and possible plans.
According to a report over on the LA Times, Activision has tasked Sledgehammer with co-development duties on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 with Infinity Ward. This is according to “people familiar with the situation,” and will add to burgeoning rumors surrounding the next installment in the monster shooter franchise.
Still not officially announced by Activision, the game is reportedly “well into production and is expected to come out in November.”
LA Times sources have said Sledgehammer and Infinity Ward are “equally sharing duties of producing the single-player portion of the game,” and confirmed the rumor that Raven Software is working on the online multiplayer portion.
Unconfirmed reports last year had Raven working on map packs for Treyarch’s Black Ops, the first of which is slated for a February 1 release and called First Strike
According to the source, borrowing the Sledgehammer team has delayed the Call Of Duty spin-off game it was rumored to be working on, in order to keep Modern Warfare 3 on schedule since the firing of Infinity Ward heads Vince Zampella and Jason West and the employee exodus that followed.
Earlier in the month, a job listing for a community manager was posted by Activision, seeking someone to help “build and drive the studio community management effort for Sledgehammer and the next Call of Duty game.”
Activision has confirmed previously that Infinity Ward was working on a new Call of Duty title.
Court filings claim Infinity Ward delayed CoD map pack at EA’s request, EA claims email “was a joke”
Kotaku has gotten its hands on an internal email belonging to EA, which suggests Infinity Ward put off releasing a map pack for Modern Warfare 2 at the request of the firm. The letter was released today as part of court filing in the Activision suit against EA and Infinity Ward co-founders Vince Zampella and Jason West.
Here’s an excerpt from the mail:
The email was dated March 2, the day DICE’s Battlefield Bad Company 2 hit stores and 28 days before the “Stimulus Pack” map pack for Modern Warfare 2.
It was written by EA’s senior director of global marketing Lincoln Hershberger, and sent to quite a few executives including EA Games head Frank Gibeau.
Activision added Electronic Arts to its ongoing lawsuit against West and Zampella back in December.
Joystiq has more quotes from the emails here, as well as more quotes from the court documents.
Meanwhile, EA spokesman Jeff Brown said the email was a joke, and should not be taken as anything more.
“This was obviously sarcasm,” he said. “It’s clear from the email this was a joke and they never spoke. We explained this to lawyers at Activision – who apparently don’t have much of a sense of humor.”
The emails in question were handed over to Activision by EA as a part of the legal proceedings, and were allowed into the public record by the Los Angeles Superior Court earlier this week. The new documents include emails between EA execs discussing the hiring of West and Zampella, as well as talking about using a more “aggressive approach” to bring the duo over.
Activision is claiming this is more proof of EA trying to court West and Zampella away from the firm, which, if proven, means both men were in breach of contract by seeking employment elsewhere.
EA purchases the domain CampaignforPCGaming.com
Electronic Arts has a purchased the domain CampaignforPCGaming.com, but what purpose, is not known at present.
Dug up by PC Gamer (via BigDownload), the domain was purchased by the firm back in December, but at present, there is nothing up through the web address.
EA has claimed to be a staunch supporter of PC games in the past, and its record proves it sees PC as a viable platform by releasing exclusives such as: The Sims, Spore, Battlefield Heroes, and Command and Conquer 4.
However, it has a tendency to ignore the platform when it comes to releasing demos of its games. Recent snubs include Bulletstorm, Dead Space 2, and Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, all of which were given demo releases on consoles.
EA has never offered a reason for such exclusions, but opinions on the matter are rather strong over on the PC gaming end. We’ve asked EA for comment on why it isn’t too keen on releasing PC demos, but we’ve yet to hear back on the matter.
As far as the new domain purchase is concerned, we’ll contact EA and see if someone can elaborate on the purchase and possible plans.
