Activision Blizzard: Last News

Toys For Bob, the developer of Crash Bandicoot 4 and the remastered Spyro collection, has confirmed it’s going independent.Toys For Bob was founded in 1989 before being acquired by Activision in 2005, where they worked on Skylanders. As well as heading up a number of sequels, Toys For Bob also developed Crash Bandicoot 4 and was behind 2018’s Spyro Reignited Trilogy.As part of the recent wave of layoffs at Activision Blizzard, Toys For Bob lost 89 members of staff and saw the closure of their Californian offices.In a new blog post though, Toys For Bob has confirmed it has broken away from Activision.

Call Of Duty titles will launch day and date on Xbox Game Pass, according to an interview with Microsoft gaming chief Phil Spencer.Spencer spoke about how Xbox Game Pass will work with new studios that have been purchased by Xbox in an interview with Gamefile‘s Stephen Totillo.“Our intent is the full portfolio from ZeniMax, Activision Blizzard and XGS- Xbox Game Studios – will be on Game Pass, day one,” Spencer said in the interview. It’s important to note however, that there’s still work to be done before they’re ready to launch day and date on the system.“We’re doing the back end work to make them come to PC and console simultaneously,” Spencer confirmed.In the same interview, Spencer also spoke about what he believes the future of physical media is in regards to the Xbox platform, stating that while Xbox themselves are fans of physical media, they “don’t have a need to drive that disproportionate to customer demand”.“Gaming consoles themselves have kind of become the last consumer electronic device that has a drive.

Larian Studios has hit out at a number of companies laying-off development staff to maximise profits for shareholders.2024 has started with a number of studios cutting huge swathes of employees. Microsoft laid off 1,900 staff shortly after its acquisition of Activision Blizzard was approved, Riot Games laid off over 500 members of staff, and today (February 19) it was confirmed that Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM has cut a quarter of its staff.Elsewhere, the Amazon-owned streaming platform Twitch claimed it wasn’t making a profit after another massive round of layoffs, while Embracer Group admitted that its “overruling principle is to always maximise shareholder value in any given situation” after cutting 1,400 jobs over the past 12 months.Last week, Baldur’s Gate 3 picked up a number of trophies at the DICE Awards including Outstanding Achievement In Story, RPG Of The Year, Outstanding Achievement In Game Direction, and Game of the Year.

Microsoft has confirmed that Diablo 4 will be the first Activision Blizzard title to come to Xbox Game Pass.Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard was finally approved in October 2023 after being announced in January 2022 via a deal thought to be worth £50billion.Now the first of Microsoft’s new franchises is coming to its subscription-based Game Pass service. Head of Xbox Sarah Bond confirmed the news during an official Xbox podcast last night (February 15).Diablo 4 will be available to play via Game Pass from March 28 and is said to be the first of multiple Activision and Blizzard-developed titles coming to the service.Elsewhere in the podcast, Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced that Game Pass now had 34million “fully paid” subscribers compared to 25million in 2022.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is offering a free trial this week for players who haven’t yet jumped on the game.To celebrate the launch of Season Two, the game is free for all to play from February 8 to February 12. Highrise, Rust, Meat, Shipment, Stash House, Terminal, Rio, Karachi and Scrapyard are all the maps available for players to experience in the free trial.The modes Team Deathmatch, Hardpoint, Kill Confirmed, Team Gun Game and Domination will be available over this four day period for users to play with friends.

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata.Iwata was president of Nintendo from 2002 until his death in 2015 and oversaw both the Nintendo DS and the Wii.However, he was also CEO during the turbulent Wii U era of Nintendo, which was considered a flop by many. Following the failure, he took a 50 per cent pay cut while other executives reduced their salaries by 20 per cent.Speaking about the decision in 2013, Iwata said: “If we reduce the number of employees for better short-term financial results, employee morale will decrease.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is to leave his role next week.Kotick became CEO of Activision in 1991 after purchasing a 25 per cent share in the near-bankrupt company the previous year. Over the next 32 years, he headed up the company as it grew to become one of the biggest and most influential pillars in the world of video games, acquiring a number of other studios on the way.However, it was claimed Kotick knew about cases of sexual misconduct happening within the company and kept it secret, even after state regulators started investigating the company in 2018.

Hogwarts Legacy is set to top the US video game sales charts for 2023, breaking a long stretch of Call Of Duty titles.According to Mat Piscatella, the executive director & video game industry analyst at Circana, who spoke to IGN, this is a combination of both Hogwarts Legacy selling extremely well throughout the year (along with a boost from a recent Nintendo Switch port) and the fact that Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3‘s sales are behind Modern Warfare 2, despite Modern Warfare 3 being the second best-selling game of 2023.If Hogwarts Legacy stays at the top of the charts, then this year will be the first year since 2009 that the charts haven’t been topped by either a Call Of Duty game or a Rockstar Games title (in 2013, Grand Theft Auto V topped the list, and in 2018 Red Dead Redemption 2 topped the list).NME reviewed Hogwarts Legacy, stating that the game can “only offer a facsimile: a world that, although ostensibly populated, feels lifeless and doesn’t let you have any real impact on it.”“Hogwarts Legacy is fun and manages to get a lot of things right, but it already feels somewhat dated, no doubt a hangover from the six-year development cycle,” the review reads.“It’s a stunning way to experience Hogwarts and the surrounding area and is probably the best representation for fans of the universe, regardless of the medium. Honestly, this is an exceptional piece of fan service and a loving recreation that for performance reasons and dated design, doesn’t quite come together,” it concludes.In other gaming news, a new Assassin’s Creed Mirage update has introduced New Game Plus to the game.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has confirmed details of three new maps as part of the free Season 1 update, due later this year.Modern Warfare 3 was released earlier this month but Activision Blizzard are already planning on expanding the game with a free update. According to a Call Of Duty developers blog, three new 6×6 multiplayer will be added to the title, with both Meat and Greece available as soon as Season 1 launches.Meat is described as a “compact map centred around the East Bay Meats slaughterhouse” while Greece is a “medium-sized Mediterranean-inspired Map based on a coastal town.”A third map, Rio, will allow players to “take in the bright colours, tight quarters, and elegant streets in a fight through an upscale shopping centre,” and will be available at a later date during Season 1.Further details about the 6×6 maps and information about returning 2×2 maps will be shared as part of the official Season 1 blog, but Activision Blizzard have shared information about the all-new Urzikstan map.

Overwatch 2 and Dead Island 2 are getting streetwear drops from luxury streetwear brand ARK/8 following a drop earlier this year of Elden Ring-related streetwear earlier this year.ARK/8 announced the news today (November 16), and confirmed that both collections will have different inspirations. The Overwatch collection will be “shining a spotlight on two countries – South Korea and Japan” and will be specifically focused on “two fan-favorite characters, D.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is actually voiced by The Rock’s cousin.READ MORE: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 review: sublime multiplayer saves a dull shooterCall Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launched earlier this month, and to celebrate Veterans Day (a US holiday that honours military veterans of the United States Armed Forces) a new character called Koa King has been added to the game.

NME, Sledgehammer Games‘ creative director Dave Swenson and narrative designer Shelby Carlton have discussed how Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 villain Vladimir Makarov may not be the same iconic character that fans remember from the first Modern Warfare games.Although the Modern Warfare reboot shares a lot in common with the initial trilogy, they tell largely original new stories. This means that although Modern Warfare 3 will see the return of ultranationalist terrorist Vladimir Makarov, he may not be the same exact villain that fans remember.“We’ve reset the story,” Swenson told NME. “All that old canon isn’t applicable to what we’re making.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 PC requirements are incredibly important to check before Sledgehammer Games‘ upcoming shooter launches.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 or Modern Warfare 3 are on their way to Xbox Game Pass this year, Microsoft has confirmed, as there wasn’t enough time to sort out a “secret celebration drop”.Activision Blizzard stated that there were no intentions for its “upcoming and recently launched games” like Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Diablo 4 to be playable through Xbox Game Pass this year.Yet, rumours swirled that there was something in store. In the latest episode of the official Xbox podcast, Microsoft CEO of gaming Phil Spencer explained that there simply wasn’t enough time to arrange the games’ arrival on Game Pass.The acquisition of Activision Blizzard was only finalised last week following repeated revisions to the terms of the agreement.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 developers from Sledgehammer Games have spoken to NME about the game’s longer time-to-kill mechanics, along with planned changes to visibility and weapon balance.Last week (October 6), the first beta for Modern Warfare 3 kicked off on PlayStation. As fans got their hands on the upcoming shooter, a few of its features stuck out – one of which was the game’s unusually long time-to-kill (TTK), a measurement that determines how long it takes one player to kill another.While this varies between Call Of Duty games, Modern Warfare 3 has one of the series’ longest to date.

Activision Blizzard games like Call Of Duty, Overwatch 2 and World Of Warcraft could be added to Ubisoft’s streaming service soon according to a new announcement.In response to another rejection from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regarding its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft tried to rectify the regulator’s point of contention in this move to sell streaming rights to those games to Ubisoft+.“To address the concerns about the impact of the proposed acquisition on cloud game streaming raised by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, we are restructuring the transaction to acquire a narrower set of rights,” it said in a statement (via Video Games Chronicle).“This includes executing an agreement effective at the closing of our merger that transfers the cloud streaming rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years to Ubisoft Entertainment SA, a leading global game publisher. The rights will be in perpetuity,” it explained.As a result, it imagined that the CMA would have enough time to review the new transaction and finalise it ahead of its own imposed deadline of October 18.“Under the restructured transaction, Microsoft will not be in a position either to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service – Xbox Cloud Gaming – or to exclusively control the licensing terms of Activision Blizzard games for rival services,” concluded Microsoft.Chris Early, senior vice president of strategic partnerships and business development at Ubisoft, expressed the developer and publisher’s enthusiasm to offer “a large library of beloved and classic titles as well as the newest releases” through Ubisoft+.

Activision Blizzard has confirmed that the next Call Of Duty game, widely believed to be Modern Warfare 3, will be revealed through a “limited-time event” in Warzone.Yesterday (July 27), Activision Blizzard shared a blog post outlining the contents of Warzone Season 5, which launches for the battle royale on August 2.Within the post, it was confirmed that Modern Warfare 2 antagonist Graves, presumed dead after one of the game’s closing missions, is still alive. As the leader of mercenary group Shadow Company, Graves will arrive in Warzone as a playable operator — while his mercenary group will seemingly be involved in the next Call Of Duty.“Drop into Call of Duty: Warzone to experience the worldwide reveal for Call of Duty 2023 in a limited-time event,” reads the blog.

Blizzard Entertainment revealed that Overwatch 2 is on its way to Steam as the first of a selection of its games that will leap over to the platform.Originally, Overwatch 2 was only available for PC through Blizzard’s own digital distribution service, Battle.net. “As we’ve evolved, the industry has evolved too – gaming is no longer just for specific communities as it was when Battle.net launched over two decades ago,” read a press release on the announcement.In order to “break down barriers” for new and veteran Overwatch 2 players, the hero shooter will launch on Steam on August 10.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone patch has brought a crossover with The Boys, adding four playable characters and superpowers from the Amazon TV show.The crossover kicked off today yesterday (July 12), with The Boys‘ own Starlight joining Call Of Duty with an operator bundle. Homelander will then arrive on Sunday (July 16), while Black Noir will be added on July 20.Priced at 2,400 CoD points (£16.79) each, every bundle will also come with three Tracer Weapon Blueprints and their own finishing move, along with weapon cosmetics and a loading screen.Besides cosmetics, Warzone players will also have a chance to find the ‘Temp V’ field upgrade, which will grant users one of four random superpowers: Charge Jump, Electric Shockwave, Laser Vision, and Teleport.While Charge Jump “propels players across the map” without any fall damage, Electric Shockwave “sends a powerful electrical explosion that injures Operators and AI Combatants, as well as destroys vehicles and equipment”.Meanwhile, Laser Vision lets players hover in the air and fire laser beams from their eyes, and finally, Teleport lets players warp into the sky.You can check out all four powers in action below:This is the latest in a string of crossovers for The Boys.

Sony has confirmed that it won’t share any PS6 details with Activision Blizzard if Microsoft successfully purchases the company.Speaking to the US Federal Trade Commission (via Eurogamer) PlayStation boss Jim Ryan confirmed that it would not take the risk of sharing console details with its competitor.“[Sony] simply could not run the risk of a company that was owned by a direct competitor having access to that information,” he explained.His comments were received by the FTC in April after he was quizzed about statements submitted by Sony that explain the company’s position on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.In an FTC v MS/ABK deposition, PlayStation chief Jim Ryan said that, if deal closes, Sony couldn't tell Activision about its next consoleIs then asked about Sony working with Mojang (Minecraft) after MS bought them.

Blizzard Entertainment, for failing to bring Diablo 4 to her “favourite gaming system” — the Apple Mac.Seeing that Diablo 4 is said to be the fastest-selling game in Blizzard Entertainment’s history, it’s unsurprising that Goldberg has been swept up in the hype.According to her speech (via PC Gamer), she’s been a longstanding fan of the series. “There are a lot of terrible things happening in the world but what I’m about to tell you is not on any scale like that,” said Goldberg in a video posted to her Instagram account.