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All Articles: Call of Duty: WWII
Activision officially unveils Call of Duty: WWII with an hour-long livestream and the first trailer
After giving fans a quick tease of the game late last week, Activision and Sledgehammer Games have returned with their “Worldwide Reveal” for Call of Duty: WWII. According to the developer, the new Call of Duty will deliver “gritty realism, authenticity, and cinematic intensity on an epic scale” as players embark on an important mission in the European Theater:
Call of Duty: WWII takes the franchise back to its roots in a bold cinematic experience that captures the unforgettable heroism of the soldiers who fought together in a war that changed the world forever. Activision’s gripping new title is an honest portrayal of World War II from the perspective of the famed 1st Infantry Division, with an ensemble cast of global and diverse characters. Through stunning visuals and intense audio, players storm the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, march across France to liberate Paris and ultimately push forward into Germany in some of the most monumental battles of all-time.
Not to be outdone by its single-player campaign, Call of Duty: WWII will also include a full complement of multiplayer modes. Competitive deathmatch will be available, of course, but Sledgehammer is also adding a new cooperative narrative mode to the franchise. Known as “War,” Activision has promised to reveal more information about this facet of the game at this year’s E3 Expo. And don’t worry, the undead hordes will rise again as part of CoD: WWII’s Nazi Zombies cooperative campaign.
“The story we’re telling is unlike anything that we’ve tackled before,” said Glen Schofield, the Studio Head and Co-Founder of Sledgehammer Games. It’s such an amazing journey of common everyday people who became heroes. We want to respect this great generation of soldiers, tell a realistic story set in a true inflection point in human history, and deliver the best experience of our careers.”
Call of Duty: WWII will be released in three different configurations including a Base Edition ($59.99), a Digital Deluxe Edition ($99.99, includes Season Pass), and the Pro Edition ($99.99, includes Steelbook packaging and Season Pass). Fans who pre-order any version of the game will receive access to the pre-release Private Beta, which will be available on the PS4 first.
Call of Duty: WWII will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 3. The first trailer has been embedded above, and the full “Worldwide Reveal” livestream, hosted by developers from Sledgehammer, can be found after the break. (more…)
Activision officially announces Call of Duty: WWII; Reveal Livestream scheduled for April 26
The rumors have been swirling about Call of Duty’s re-engagement with the Second World War for some time now. And after the success of Battlefield 1 (and the relative failure of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare), it’s reasonable to think that Activision might want to try something “new.”
That reasonable assumption turned into an official announcement today, as Activision and Sledgehammer Games confirmed that Call of Duty: WWII will be released this November for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The original Call of Duty helped popularize the World War II setting for shooters back in 2003, but the franchise hasn’t returned to the conflict since 2008’s Call of Duty: World at War.
But thankfully, we won’t have to wait very long to discover more Call of Duty: WWII intel. The publisher and developer also announced plans to host a “Worldwide Reveal Livestream” for the game on the official website on April 26 at 1:00 PM (Eastern Time).
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: WWII
Call of Duty 2017 is going “back to its roots” and CoD: Infinite Warfare is officially a retail disappointment
It’s official… Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare has been a disappointment for Activision. During a quarterly financial presentation yesterday, executives from the publisher confirmed that sales of the sequel “underperformed our expectations.”
COO Thomas Tippl speculated that the sci-fi trappings of Infinite Warfare’s plot might have been responsible for the sales downturn, saying, “It’s clear that for a portion of our audience, the space setting just didn’t resonate.”
However, Activision’s senior staff are very excited for Call of Duty 2017, which is currently in development at Sledgehammer Games. Tippl confirmed the game will launch this Fall, and said it’ll feature “traditional combat” that takes the franchise “back to its roots”:
In 2017, Activision will take Call of Duty back to its roots, and traditional combat will once again take center stage. This is what our dedicated community of Call of Duty players and Sledgehammer Games, who has been developing this year’s title, are the most excited about.
During the Q&A portion of the presentation, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg added that Call of Duty 2017, which is known as “Lethal Combat” internally, will offer a better balance of traditional elements and new innovations than Infinite Warfare did:
I’ve said many times before, with any longstanding franchise like Call of Duty, there’s a balancing act we need to strike between staying true to the things that people love about the franchise and also the need to never become complacent and to keep pushing for innovations to keep the franchise fresh and vital.
Last year I don’t think we got that balance right. Infinite Warfare had a ton of great gameplay innovations that many of our fans appreciated and loved, but it also had a setting that didn’t appeal to all of our fans. The good news is, is that I’m excited to say that in 2017 we think we have this balance in perfect harmony with a game that our teams are incredibly passionate about, with a lot of great innovations, but that also has the traditional combat that we know our fans are going to love.
Barring some catastrophic change in Activision’s operational style, Call of Duty 2017 will likely be released this November.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Call of Duty: WWII
SAG-AFTRA Strike: Is Telltale working on a Guardians of the Galaxy game? And Call of Duty 2017 might be titled Lethal Combat
SAG-AFTRA, the largest union for voice actors and stunt performers in Hollywood, authorized a strike against some game developers and production studios nearly two weeks ago. Because of the strike, all work ceased on a number of in-development projects, including a few unannounced games, such as Madden NFL 18 and Brothers in Arms 4.
Today, the union updated their list of projects that aren’t being struck, and it too includes a large number of unannounced projects.
Perhaps the biggest inclusion in the non-struck list is Guardians of the Galaxy: The Video Game (AKA “Blue Harvest”). It’s easy to assume that Marvel is developing a tie-in mobile game for the film sequel, but it interestingly shares a production house with Telltale’s The Walking Dead: A New Frontier. So it’s not too far of a leap to assume that Telltale’s mysterious Marvel project might star the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, which launches this Friday, is also on the list, presumably because of the voice work needed for its Season Pass content. But the 2017 Edition of the long-running franchise, which is in the works at Sledgehammer Games, is included as well. The game is currently known as Call of Duty: Stronghold, though an additional codename, Call of Duty: Lethal Combat, is also included. Unfortunately, neither of these names gives us any idea where Sledgehammer is taking the Call of Duty franchise next.
Electronic Arts has four titles on the list, including Mass Effect: Andromeda. The other three are all listed under codenames, so all we can do is speculate as to what “Project X” (AKA “Delta”), “Walrus,” and “Yuma” refer to.
WB Games also has four titles on the list, all under codenames: “Lego Zeus,” “Metallica,” “Sabbath,” and “Kraken.” I know it’s just following the naming convention established by the others, but I would love a Lego retelling of the Greek myths.
Another mystery game is in the works at Take-Two, and it has three codenames. Dust (AKA “Dark Future & Aces High”) could be literally anything. However, the references to gambling and deserts might lead some to make the leap to Red Dead Redemption 2.
Insomniac has a single game in the non-struck list and it goes by the codename “Sleepless.” It’s possible that “Sleepless” is a stand-in for their Spider-Man game, which does take place in “The City That Never Sleeps.” I’d also wager that Final Fantasy Black is actually a codename for Final Fantasy XV, which has previously been referred to by Square Enix executives as the “dark side” to Final Fantasy XIII‘s “light side.”
Finally, a listing for Project Atlas (AKA “Saints Row”) is no doubt referring to Volition’s recently announced Agents of Mayhem, which is said to take place in the same universe as Saints Row.
The SAG-AFTRA union plans to hold a second picket this Thursday, November 3, in front of the offices of WB Games in Burbank.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Agents of Mayhem, Call of Duty: WWII, Final Fantasy XV, Guardians of the Galaxy, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Red Dead Redemption 2, Spider-Man