Wounded Warrior Project Gets a Boost from Call of Duty Endowment

Who knew that by buying a game, you could help support the people you portray within it? In the interest of building a new Transition Training Academy, the Call of Duty Endowment, established by Activision Blizzard, will be donating $100,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project. The Training Academies will be used to educate soldiers who have been severely injured in the field of Information Technology. Hopefully, after spending some time in the Academies, soldiers can find a post-military career path. Funds for the Call of Duty Endowment come from the sales of the latest game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The Endowment is run by an advisory board of veterans who decide what to do with the money raised. In the recent past, funds have been donated to the families of the victims of the Fort Hood tragedy and the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

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Activision Blizzard’s Bobby Kotick to keynote 2010 DICE

Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizard, will be opening the 2010 D.I.C.E. Summit Sessions with an opening keynote. Bobby is known for giving press very interesting quotes, so this keynote could be a fun one to watch. D.I.C.E. takes place Thursday, February 18,2010 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas. The theme of Mr. Kotick’s talk is how creative talent drives the video game industry. “Bobby Kotick has believed in the power of interactive entertainment his entire career,” said Joseph Olin, president of the Academy. “The growth of Activision Blizzard, from bankruptcy to an industry leader is attributable to his unwavering drive to develop a studio model that fosters creativity to deliver great games. Activision Blizzard is home to some of the most talented developers in our industry and we are thrilled to have Bobby’s insight on how great games are built upon great talent.”

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sets all time sales records

Yes, we’re still talking MW2 on GamingAngels. The title is making all kinds of waves and today it’s the good kind… money. Modern Warfare 2 has shattered theatrical box office and video game sales for five-day worldwide sales. The new records for five days of sales is now $550 million according to initial Activision estimates. $550 million is huge. To give you some sort of idea on comparisons with other forms of entertainment, Activision sent over a list of items that they beat out: The largest reported five-day opening worldwide box office gross figures, held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394 million) The largest reported five-day opening domestic box office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight ($203.8 million) The largest reported five-day worldwide video game sales record, previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (6 million units, $500 million) The largest reported opening first-day domestic box office

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Modern Warfare 2 now available and helping Veterans

Activision and Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is now out at retail stores everywhere. Many retailers had huge launch events at midnight for the game. “From day one the goal was to bring our fans around the world the most riveting and authentic experience we’ve ever created in Modern Warfare 2,” said Vince Zampella, CEO of Infinity Ward. “Every design from the smallest detail was crafted to place gamers in the center of their own epic, action movie — with the suspense, excitement and adrenaline as if they were starring themselves.” “By all indicators, we anticipate Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be the biggest entertainment launch of all time. 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,” said Tony Bartel, executive vice president, merchandising and marketing,

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Activision features Hefner in Guitar Hero 5 ads

Activision Blizzard caused quite a stir when their last tv ads featured Heidi Klum dancing around playing Guitar Hero. Interestingly enough, the ones featuring all male athletes didn’t cause alot of media talk. How does Activision Blizzard top themselves? By going straight to creator of Playboy, Hugh Hefner. The first tv ads will be shown during Big Brother today and they will feature Hugh Hefner and some of the bunnies. A senior brand manager told MCV that: “We have enlisted the help of Hugh Hefner and his Playboy bunnies for the TV advertising, which should appeal to our fans – and also guarantees their attention, at least for duration of the advert,” he said. “We saw from our work with Heidi in the previous creative that enlisting the help of true talent for our advertising can spread the Guitar Hero name virally. Our director’s cut of the Heidi TV ad

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Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer will always be free

There have been rumors floating around that Modern Warfare 2 might have online charges. But Infinity Ward is quick to stop that rumor. This rumor has absolutely nothing to do with Infinity Ward or our games, including Modern Warfare 2,” said the developer’s communications boss, Rob Bowling, speaking on the firm’s forums. “We would never introduce such a system for Modern Warfare 2 so don’t worry. “Multiplayer will always be equal and free for everyone as always.” See don’t always listen to rumors.

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