Next Call of Duty details emerge. *UPDATE 5/13*

[blurredvision]

Details on the next Call of Duty emerge from the Activision earnings call yesterday. First hints at some type of digital store to sell features as well as mention of a "social network".

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/05/09/call.of.duty/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Activision Blizzard is set to launch a new "Call of Duty" game for consoles alongside an ambitious digital platform later this year, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said on the company's earnings call Monday.

Executives have expressed an especially keen excitement about the new platform features.
They named "Call of Duty" as one of the two "significant investments" that Activision is making, which will include the company's largest marketing campaign, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said on the call. (The other investment is in PC developer Blizzard, which is working on "Diablo III" and a new massively multiplayer online game franchise unrelated to "World of Warcraft.")

"This year's 'Call of Duty' initiatives will result in the best 'Call of Duty' experiences we have created to date," Kotick said. In addition to paid features integrated into the platform, "You will see a lot of new services and capabilities that will be provided free of charge to all of our customers," he said.

The "Call of Duty" online service has been in development for two years under the name Project Beachhead, Hirshberg said. The company created a separate group, also called Beachhead, to focus full attention on the project, Kotick has said previously.

Activision will begin briefing reporters in San Francisco later this week about the project under nondisclosure agreements. The company plans to make a formal announcement in the next several weeks, Kotick said. Still more details are expected in June for the Electronic Entertainment Expo.

http://kotaku.com/#!5800161/beachhead-project-is-an-important-part-of-this-years-call-of-duty-game

Today's Activision Blizzard first quarter 2011 financial results call came and went without specific mention of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, but talk surrounding Beachheads buzzword-powered online digital platform indicates it will play a strong role in the next Call of Duty game.

Earlier this year Activision revealed that a new internal studio called Beachhead was working on an integrated online platform for the Call of Duty franchise, providing a "best in class online community" with services that would "supercharge the series like never before".

In today's call, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick used more of the same language in describing the new platform. They spoke of console integrating, connectivity, and exclusive content. They even talked monetization.

"We haven't released the details of the business model for Beachhead," said Hirshberg. "It is the response to the passion people have for the game, the amount that people want to engage one another in a connected way. We want to create an experience that was amplifying enough... to be able to be monetized."

Kotick followed up the monetization by stressing there would also be "A lot of new capabilities and services provided free of charge to our customers."

As for when we'll get to see this elusive Beachhead platform in action, Hirshberg said it would be "an integral part to the innovation signature of the Call of Duty game this year."

After just now adding the Kotaku link, it says they announced Beachhead earlier this year, but I had heard nothing about it. If this has already been posted before and I just don't remember, then feel free to lock this thread Queasy.

UPDATE 5/13:

Looks like we have our first solid leak:

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/05/13/modern-warfare-3-leak/

The takeaway:

Continues where MW2 left off. Sounds like a great deal of it will continue to take place in the good ol' US, including manhattan and Brooklyn. I loved that setting in MW2, glad to see them continue it rather than the tired industrial and middle east environments. Please, please include another "no Russian" scene, where I can mow down hipsters in Brooklyn.

Scant info on the standard MP mode, other than the existence of 20 maps, half of which Im guessing will be from
DLC.

Special ops is back. Yay!

And a new horde mode of some sort, which is basically a no brainer at this point, but I'm glad to see it included, and I hope theres a unique twist of some sort.

So far no major shockers, just a solid lineup of content.

 

[Phobic9]

I'm probably in the minority (I know I am... ) but I just can't get excited about Call of Duty anymore. MW2 was the last straw for me and I didn't even play online.

I'm still interested in what ridiculousness they'll come up with next but I'm definitely not buying it.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Pass.

 

[digiram]

If they sell in-game enhancements that gives one an unfair advantage over others, then the series is dead. We'll see what happens.

 

[dpodblood]

Wow that was all so incredibly vague. Think they could give us any less information? All I can say is is they go to micro-transactions or a monthly fee I will never play another COD game again.

 

[Saint Nick]

My last Call of Duty game was Black Ops, and I sold that. I just play MW2 now, and I barely play that. No more CoD for me. Time to move on to a different type of game.

 

[purbeast0]

I'm probably in the minority (I know I am... ) but I just can't get excited about Call of Duty anymore. MW2 was the last straw for me and I didn't even play online.

I'm still interested in what ridiculousness they'll come up with next but I'm definitely not buying it.

no i'm definitely with you. last one i bought was mw2 and it wasn't nearly as fun as mw1 was. i barely played it and did not like all the new perks and kill streak rewards, nor the maps at all. didn't bother with black ops and probably won't bother with this one.

i'm just burnt out of FPS in general for the most part.

 

[Zargon]

sounds like what EA is playign with in BF4F. have to buy the good guns

 

[gorcorps]

I thought BO was the most interesting of the recent CoD games with all the different modes and such, but I still didn't play it for long at all.

 

[Raduque]

The last Call of Duty game I bought/played was World at War, and I did it specifically to play Nazi Zombies with some friends of mine. They don't play online anymore, so neither do I.

I haven't cared about CoD since Modern Warfare. Would I like to play Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops? Sure, single player only. I'm not going to pay the prices Activision wants for them, though.

 

[Kabob]

All I can say is is they go to micro-transactions or a monthly fee I will never play another COD game again.

This

 

[Krynj]

I had my fill of war games during the PS1/PS2 era of Medal of Honor. After that, despite improved graphics and engines, these types of games just feel the same to me.

Definitely pass.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Let's see, my relationship with Call of Duty games has been interesting:

- Loved COD4, played a ton both on PC and 360.
- Got World at War, didn't like it, stopped playing online specifically because of dogs and too many map packs
- Got MW2, enjoyed it for a little while, poor balance killed it for me, eventually sold
- Managed to resist getting Black Ops

Not going to pick up this one.

 

[Queasy]

Just FYI, Activision is maintaining that it will not charge for COD online.

“While we are attempting to deliver new, incremental experiences [...] we are not attempting to monetize or take any experience away that currently comes as part of the value proposition of buying the game.” In other words, when it comes to charging for MP, no still means no. Bobby added: “Very importantly, our community of COD players is one we celebrate. You will see a lot of new services and capabilities that will be provided free of charge to all of our customers.”

There are lots of rumors about Project Beachhead but nothing confirmed about what it will do and whether or not there will be a cost involved.

 

[smackababy]

My last Call of Duty game was Black Ops, and I sold that. I just play MW2 now, and I barely play that. No more CoD for me. Time to move on to a different type of game.

Black Ops was the last Call of Duty game? I don't understand the point of stating it was your last, because it was the last of anyone who kept up with the series.

 

[dpodblood]

I wish they would stop charging $15 for map packs. $5 seems reasonable to me, more than that is ridiculous. The next map pack for BO will only have 4 maps, and some crappy zombie mode...

 

[PimpJuice]

Funny to hear people who don't even play online saying they are tired of COD. The single player was never the draw.

 

[purbeast0]

I wish they would stop charging $15 for map packs. $5 seems reasonable to me, more than that is ridiculous. The next map pack for BO will only have 4 maps, and some crappy zombie mode...

if people stop paying $15 for them, they will stop charging $15 for them.

 

[dpodblood]

if people stop paying $15 for them, they will stop charging $15 for them.

I know I know... But I hate being booted from a server because I don't have a map pack. So annoying... :$

 

[dpodblood]

Funny to hear people who don't even play online saying they are tired of COD. The single player was never the draw.

It was in the early days. COD 1 & 2 had great campaigns.

 

[I4AT]

I haven't played a CoD game since 2. Not MW2, CoD2.

 

[Saint Nick]

Black Ops was the last Call of Duty game? I don't understand the point of stating it was your last, because it was the last of anyone who kept up with the series.

Sorry, meant to say it will be the last one I'll be purchasing. Unless a MW3 comes out, that I may be interested for the single player.

 

[Phobic9]

Funny to hear people who don't even play online saying they are tired of COD. The single player was never the draw.

If you've played one...you've played them all. This is especially true for the CoD series, IMO.

 

[Queasy]

I wish they would stop charging $15 for map packs. $5 seems reasonable to me, more than that is ridiculous. The next map pack for BO will only have 4 maps, and some crappy zombie mode...

First Strike sold 1.4 million copies in the first 24 hours on Xbox LIVE alone. With those kind of numbers, there's no reason to drop the price.

BTW, the Zombie map on the Escalation Map Pack is freaking hilariously awesome (even though I got rid of Black Ops so I won't be playing this). It is the largest Zombie map made yet and has Sarah Michelle Gellar, Danny Trejo, Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead) and Danny Trejo along with a zombie George Romero.

 

[bowdenball]

I'll give it a try. I still enjoy Black Ops, especially the smaller maps for the run and gun style. I'll also try out BF3 since years ago i loved BF2 on the pc. So far, the newest map back is enjoyable. After more than a decade of FPS I still enjoy them so we'll see what the next batch brings.