Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Information
Robert Kotick (CEO, Activision Blizzard – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s publisher)
“In just five days of sell through Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become the largest entertainment launch in history and a pop culture phenomenon.
The title’s success redefines entertainment as millions of consumers have chosen to play Modern Warfare 2 at unprecedented levels rather than engage in other forms of media.”
Overview
- Sold 4.7 million copies in USA and UK in the first 24hrs of its release
- Has sold over 14 million copies world wide since
- 2nd best selling game ever in the UK
- £330 million in first five days of its release
- The most revenue ever generated by a new release, including films
- The Dark Knight raised £135 million in its opening week and Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince £260 million.
Production
- Developed by Infinity Ward based in California
- Cost £30 million to develop
- Total budget for production, marketing and distribution - £130 million
- Comparable to a Hollywood film
- It is based on Infinity Ward’s own IW Engine which was developed specifically for the COD series
- Engine has been improved to enhance the lighting, shadows and physics
- Texture streaming technology enabled larger worlds, advanced object details and smaller file sizes for maps = faster loading times
- Theme music composed by Hans Zimmer – famous Hollywood composer
- British actors Kevin McKidd and Craig Fairbrass voiced the main characters
- 50 Cent provided voice for the Special Ops and multiplayer modes
- Developed for the following platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and BlackBerry
Distribution
Methods of distribution include:
- Digital distribution – Steam
- On Blu-ray and DVD-DL in all high street stores and online game retailers such as Game.co.uk, Amazon.co.uk and Play.co.uk
- Map packs downloadable to console
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is published and distributed by Activision Blizzard.
- It put up the money for Infinity Ward to develop the game and recouped its costs in sales.
- It is an American company based in California.
- It is majority owned by a French company called Vivendi SA which also makes money from music, television, film, publishing, telecoms and the Internet.
- 4 different retail versions: Standard, Hardened, Veteran and Prestige
- The Hardened Edition consisted of the game and manual (which were packaged in a steel book case), an art book, and a token that allowed gamers to download Call of Duty Classic from Xbox Live Arcade or the PlayStation Store.
- The Prestige Edition included fully-functioning night vision goggles.
- It’s on Facebook, Twitter and has its own wiki.
- Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 - First Teaser Trailer
- Video Games | Modern Warfare 2 | GDC 09: Debut Teaser
- XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii
- In September 2009, Activision and Microsoft jointly announced a special, limited Modern Warfare 2 version of the Xbox 360 with a 250GB hard disk.
- It was highlighted by special game product branding and included two wireless controllers and a headset.
- First teaser trailer shown in March 2009 at the Game Developer Choice Awards in USA.
- Then posted on Infinity Ward’s website, and released on the Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Network a short time later.
- The website followed.
- Cinematic trailers on TV and in cinemas before films targeted at the same audience. In public spaces e.g. billboards near roads, on bus stops and in shops, adverts in magazines and newspapers. It was courting controversy.
- Creating a viral buzz – i.e. people talking about it and posting previews, trailers and game footage online; YouTube, news sites, game magazine sites, blogs, social networking sites and forums.
- Some of this would have been initiated by companies paid to market the game the rest was done by Xbox Ambassadors and ordinary gamers anticipating its release.
Audience Reception
User comments online include:
- “Red Dawn directed by Michael Bay“
- “Campaign is a bit on the short side but I could play hours on end in the multiplayer, stimulus package is awesome”
- “You can now customize virtually every aspect of the game play to suit your needs. This is one of the few games that allows you to be competitive, but still play using the style that you find to be the most fun.
- “The graphics are spectacular. The sound will blow your mind. The most outstanding aspect of the game is the multiplayer mode which welcomes a wide variety of FPS gamer personalities due to its in-depth weapon class perks and weapon customizations.”
Consensus amongst critics:
- Single player campaign too short but multiplayer mode highly addictive
- “A masterpiece in terms of FPS (First Person Shooter) gameplay and graphics”
- “If you’ve ever wanted to be in an action movie, this is probably the closest you will get”
- “Cinematic masterpiece”
- “An insane action packed movie that you can participate in”
- “Slack-jawed home entertainment”
http://media.edusites.co.uk/index.php/article/ocr-as-g322-section-b-the-games-industry-case-study
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