Landmark Social Gaming Platform Call Of Duty® Elite Also Live Today In Simultaneous Launch
Pre-Orders Shatter Records; Retailer Midnight Release Parties Besieged By Eager Gamers
Fans Primed for Call Of Duty Elite TV’s “Friday Night Fights,” Premiering Friday, November 11(PST)
Sydney, Australia – November 8, 2011 – After a year of anticipation, after the breakout success of the first-ever Call of Duty® XP live fan event, and after pre-order numbers that toppled even those of 2010’s mega-seller Call of Duty®: Black Ops, the final dye has at last been cast. Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3 is now available at retail outlets across Asia-Pacific. Also launching today is the revolutionary new social gaming network Call of Duty® Elite, conceived expressly to help Call of Duty®’s 30 million devoted fans Play Together Better™.
Activision Publishing, Inc.’s, a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. , Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 kicked off its worldwide release at midnight as gamers across Australia lined up to be among the first to play on the title dubbed “the biggest and most hotly anticipated entertainment release in history” by GAME Australia Managing Director, Paul Yardley. “This watershed launch extends the legacy of the franchise like no other previous release,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc. “Combining the narrative punch and gameplay innovations of the next chapter in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series with the unique services of Call of Duty Elite will bring Call of Duty gamers together in a cohesive, fan-focused environment like no other.”
Co-developed by Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games, Modern Warfare® 3 delivers a full assault on gamers’ senses, including an intense single-player campaign that picks up immediately following the events of Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 2 and escalates into World War 3, as well as groundbreaking upgrades to the beloved Special Ops like the all-new Survival Mode. Special Ops serves as the perfect springboard to Modern Warfare 3’s re-imagined multiplayer, featuring new modes and other gameplay enhancements, new features and a bevy of new weapons, equipment, and perks.
Call of Duty Elite, from developer Beachhead Studio, is a comprehensive social gaming network and offers a deep and innovative free service for all registered Call of Duty players to Connect, Compete, and Improve. Call of Duty Elite provides “always-on,” universal communication between the platform and the game. Players can access Call of Duty Elite via mobile, web, or console—to connect with friends, plan matches with their Clan or social Group, configure load-outs, access comprehensive stats and interactive heat maps, and much more. Since Call of Duty Elite was developed alongside Modern Warfare 3, many of the features offer seamless interaction between the service and players’ in-game experience, including the ability to customize loadouts and sync them to the game, customize in-game Clans, upload HD videos, and find new friends from social Groups in-game. Call of Duty Elite’s premium tier adds the Modern Warfare 3 DLC delivered monthly throughout the 9 month DLC season, a constantly updated Program Guide of daily competitions for virtual and real-world prizes, exclusive clan leveling and competitions, access to the hotly anticipated Call of Duty® Elite TV and more. Annual membership is available for $65. Many features of Call of Duty Elite are also backwards compatible with Call of Duty®: Black Ops, and will also support future enabled versions of Call of Duty with one integrated platform.
Friday Night Fights, from executive producers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott and director RJ Cutler, debuts this Friday, November 11th on Call of Duty Elite TV. Friday Night Fights features real-life rivals taking it to the mat in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer. Additional original programming from digital content and production studio DumbDumb, the brainchild of Will Arnett and Jason Bateman in partnership with Ben Silverman’s multimedia powerhouse Electus, is in the pipeline. View the complete Call of Duty Elite TV programming schedule at www.callofduty.com/elite.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is rated “MA15+” (Strong Violence) by the Australian Classification Board and is available now for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and Windows® PC. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for the Nintendo Wii, developed exclusively for the platform by Treyarch, is also available as is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3: Defiance for the Nintendo DS™, developed exclusively for the platform by n-Space, is rated “M” (Mature) by the Australian Classification Board.
For more information visit www.callofduty.com/mw3 and www.callofduty.com/elite.