Next Call of Duty to Come With a Brand New Feature, Subscription Fees

Well, its finally happened. Starting with Modern Warfare 3 every Call of Duty game going forward will have a subscription fee attached to the games online component. The Wall Street Journal is the first to report about Call of Duty Elite, the long rumored "digital platform" being developed by Activision's Beachhead studio. Elite (as stated) will be a paid service, although "portions of the service will be free" such as a Facebook esq groups feature.

The service will include other features like analyzing players performance "gauging factors such as which weapons have been most successful for them in killing enemies." Don't worry though, you wont have to pay to play online, the WSJ is reporting that "players will still be able to compete against each other online without subscribing to the service."

There is no current price set for the service, though it's expected to be less than other comparable online subscription services such as Netflix ($7.99/month). A portion of the cost will be used for a "customer-service operation" which will be needed for support. All the years map packs will also be included, they usually run for $15 apiece so this helps justify the annual cost.

We'll update this story as more info is released.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's First Gameplay Trailer

What's more to say? Seriously, what are you waiting for? If you're still reading, let's give you a bit of a description of what we see in the trailer. As seen in the previous teaser trailer, things are not looking good for America. Why? Well a full-fledged war has took off and with the inclusion of America, different parts of the world are getting attacked. It's pretty apparent, but World War III has begun. The war-torn countries of Germany, France, and England are all being portrayed with severe intensity of war that any Call of Duty addict will just go "goo-goo-gah-gah" over. There's no doubt in my mind that there will be controversy over Modern Warfare 3.

In case you didn't notice, at the end of the trailer, Sledgehammer Games is seen. Original speculation of them collaborating seems true now!

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 World Premiere Incoming

Ad campaigns have come long way since the early days of gaming, but with Call of Duty, Activision's powerhouse of a franchise, is set to have it's world premiere on televeision on May 23rd. According to Modern Warfare 3's Facebook page, the world premiere is going to be during Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals that day on ESPN (as pictured right below)

Keep your eyes open on Monday, you Call of Duty-holics!

First Details on Modern Warfare 3 Leaked

Coming as a surprise to no one, Activision's next Call of Duty game has been confirmed as Modern Warfare 3. Kotaku managed to snag some leaked info from unnamed sources regarding the next entry into the Modern Warfare franchise which is being worked on by Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer, and Raven.

MW3's campaign will open up moments after the cliffhanger ending of MW2. As is customary to the series you will take on the roles of multiple protagonists, including a Russian Federal Protective Services agent, SAS operative, tank gunner, and AC-130 gunner, all alongside a returning cast of key characters. New locales will span the globe with players visiting, New York City, Paris, London, Dubai, and more.

The story will wrap up loose ends and character arcs from previous games, all while continuing to introduce new characters. "Sandman" and "Frost" are Delta Force operatives who will potentially move on to future Modern Warfare titles. If you're really hurting to learn more about the story and don't mind some spoilers Kotaku has also published the games plot as best they're able to understand.

Multiplayer will of course make its return with a chunky list of playable maps - though details on specifics are still unknown - two new types of spec ops modes have been revealed, "Survival" and "Mission."

I've contacted Activision for more details, we'll update this story as we get more information.

Possible Modern Warfare 3 Debut & Its Rumored Details, Subtle Project Beachhead Info Emerges

Call of Duty, Activision's powerhouse of a franchise, seems to be alive and kicking as we expected, but the possible rumors of Modern Warfare 3 hasn't stopped since a couple of months ago, it was reported that Sledghammer Games, Raven Software, and Infinity Ward themselves have all been working on it together. Not to mention that the whole Infinity Ward + EA + Respawn Entertainment Vs. Activision fiasco (which is still on-going, by the way) has stopped development of any Call of Duty game since.

Over the weekend, there was a leaked picture from the Official Playstation Magazine, from its UK Division, teasing us with a big 3, which will be available on June 8th. Right below it it says, "The biggest game in the world returns." Since then, all eyes and hears have perked up and ready to hear if anything Call of Duty related even pops up. We haven't heard much up until yesterday at least.

Yesterday, Destructoid discovered that Eurogamer would then report something very unusual and of course very intriguing. Tresco, a UK retail store was caught by surprise that in their own database, "Call of Duty: Project Colossus" appeared and is dated for November 8th, which is always the same window that any and every Call of Duty game releases in.

The other set of info actually came about today, which  are rumored to be Modern Warfare 3 details. According to Kotaku, who has been in contact with an anonymous source has said that the 3rd installment is set to be the biggest one for the Modern Warfare franchise. Like stated before, Sledghammer, Raven, and Infinity Ward are all working on it together and with Jason West and Vincent Zampella gone, there are obviously new heads over there now.

What Kotaku says, from its sources is that the story still continues from where Modern Warfare 2 left off with the war still on-going in the States. No setting has been revealed yet, but everyone is imaging that it will definitely take places in enviroments today; like streets and cities. We may have returning characters as well, like "Soap" and Price, along with a new Russian informant that helps you out. Kotaku also says that Modern Warfare 3 will explore what other big name franchise, Battlefield, is trying to do; making things at a bigger scale and the ability of having destructible enviroments.

The next thing that came up was Project Beachhead, which has had nothing, but speculation. There has been nothing except the fact that "it will on an intergrated 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". Today, though, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick in their conference call stated that "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. A lot of new capabilities and services provided free of charge to our customers."

With the fiasco still going between EA, Infinity Ward, Respawn Entertainment, and Activision still going, nothing's stopping the powerhouse of a franchise, Call of Duty from selling itself. Plus, with more on the way, there's no telling when it'll stop, which, in my opinion, is starting to dry out for me.