Activision Announces Franchise Updates

By Geoff Duncan December 4, 2008

Activision Announces Franchise Updates

In recent months, game publisher Activision has been all about building its franchise juggernauts, announcing it would be killing off games series it didn’t think had to the potential to become long-running franchises in favor of long-running titles it can iterate (and sell) over and over again. At the same event where the company announced its Blizzard unit would start running ads from Microsoft subsidiary Massive, Activision also announced it plans additional sequels in its Guitar Hero,Call of Duty, and Tony Hawk franchises, even as it kills off formerly-touted titles like Ghostbusters and Chronicles of Riddick.

Activision’s next installment in the Call of Duty franchise will be Modern Warfare 2, a sign that the company is looking to split the title into two branches: one dealing with contemporary combat and another sticking closer to the game’s World War II roots. Meanwhile, Activision also plans to bring back skate king Tony Hawk for a tenth title, currently in development at Neversoft. Activision declined to give many details, saying only that players would not be using a hand-held controller to play it, implying that the game may be aiming at a foot-based device like Nintendo’s Balance Board or another motion-based controller. And, of course, Activision is spinning out more Guitar Hero content and games, announcing The Eagles, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, and other artists are lined up as downloadable content in December, and hinting that the next installment of Guitar Hero is likely to be rife with in-game advertising.

Activision also announced it’s developing an original cart racing titles, as well as a new installment in the James Bond franchise, independent from any movie or novel tie-ins. Activision won the Bond franchise from EA back in 2006.

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Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

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FTC files lawsuit to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition

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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will sue Microsoft to block its acquisition of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publisher Activision Blizzard.
A 3-to-1 vote ultimately determined the FTC's decision to issue the lawsuit as the commission fears that the deal would give Microsoft an unfair advantage in the gaming industry and hurt innovation. FTC Bureau of Competition Director Holly Vedova explained the FTC's intent in a press release.
"Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals," she said. "Today, we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets."
That press release also highlights the FTC's belief that Microsoft's acquisition of ZeniMax Media is problematic due to a track record of "using valuable gaming content to suppress competition from rival consoles." In addition, after the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft could potentially "harm competition by manipulating Activision’s pricing, degrading Activision’s game quality or player experience on rival consoles and gaming services, changing the terms and timing of access to Activision’s content, or withholding content from competitors entirely."
This $69 billion acquisition has dominated gaming industry headlines all year as Microsoft has been doing all it can to make the deal seem favorable to the industry. As recently as December 6, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer emphasized the potential positives of this acquisition, confirming plans to continue to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms and Steam for 10 years if the Activision Blizzard merger is complete.
By filing this complaint, the FTC begins proceedings that will result in a hearing and trial before an administrative law judge to determine whether or not Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard.

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Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition just hit another hurdle in the U.K.

Microsoft's nearly $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard is under review internationally, and no country takes this matter more seriously than the United Kingdom. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) completed the first phase of its investigation into the deal and is now recommending putting it through a second phase.

The call for extra scrutiny into the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard stems from the CMA's concern that such a deal may substantially stifle competition in the U.K.'s gaming market. Specifically, it's worried that if and when the merger goes through, Microsoft may make Activision Blizzard's portfolio of games exclusive to Xbox consoles, or make them available on PlayStation and Nintendo systems "on worse terms." It's also concerned that the company may leverage Activision Blizzard's games across console, PC, and cloud systems to harm competition in the growing cloud gaming space.

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Call of Duty: Warzone Season 5 update adds Gas Mask settings, nerfs Serpentine

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