In last week’s news roundup, we called the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 “impossible to ignore,” and that continued to be the case this week, as its record sales numbers, development team member complaints, and plans for the future have been flooding the headlines throughout the past week. So let’s get you caught up.
First, it’s safe to say the game is doing very well for itself. That’s evident through its sales numbers, which have been not only the highest pre-order and launch-day sales ever for a Call of Duty game on the PlayStation Store, but also the highest selling weekend numbers in franchise history across all platforms, bringing in excess of $800 million to Activision in its first three days, counting preorder sales. If that kind of money doesn’t convince you that Call of Duty will remain on PlayStation even if Xbox acquires Activision-Blizzard, you can take it straight from the Phil Spencer’s mouth, as he once again confirmed his commitment to keeping the franchise available across multiple platforms.
Of course, not all news is good news, and the development team faced criticism this week from a hotel manager who is none too happy that his building appears in the game, saying the business does not support “games that seem to encourage the use of violence.” There also seems to be some conflict from within, as composer Sarah Schachner has called it quits, citing an “increasingly challenging” work dynamic with the game’s audio director. Despite the bumps in the road, fans of the series should still have plenty to look forward to as multiple ranked play modes, divisions, and rewards have been confirmed for 2023.
Ragnarök Is Coming In A Weird Way
The wait is almost over, and God of War: Ragnarok will be here in must a few short days. And as the release date draws near, Sony has been going all-out with its marketing campaign, which has been just as big-budget as it has been bizarre. We can’t decide which is more entertaining — the happy little Kratos song-and-dance number set in a magical plywood apple orchard, or the dads-and-kids support group featuring LeBron James, John Travolta, and an armor and warpaint-clad Ben Stiller.
While the game’s review scores from around the world are still pouring in — we gave it at 10 out of 10, by the way — it looks to be one of the best-reviews games of the year, with amalgamated scores just shy of those received by Elden Ring earlier this year. Oh, and speaking of Elden Ring …
Elden Ring Brings Big Money To FromSoftware
It’s one thing to make headlines just before or after your game’s release. It’s something else entirely to keep doing it after being out for more than nine months. Enter the quarterly earnings report! FromSoftware’s parent company, Kadokawa, recently released its latest report, showing a staggeringly large 1,100 percent boost in profits and marking Elden Ring as the best-selling AAA game of the year, with more than 16 million units sold since its late-February launch.
Not to rest on its laurels, FromSoftware has plans to drive forward with its intellectual property. The next installment is nearing its completion, and the company has been putting out the call for more employees to help build its empire since June.
Meanwhile, In Virtual Reality
Sony has big plans for its next virtual reality machine, the PlayStation VR2, and they’re set to begin later this month. We got word this past week that the units will start going on sale at select retailers for preorder on November 15, with a worldwide release date of February 22 of next year. The price point is a bit steep, with the base model selling at $549.99, and that’s not counting the controller charging station,
Of course, hardware is worthless without software to run on it, and Vice President of Hardware and Peripherals Isabelle Tomatis is expecting more than 20 titles to be available at launch. Thankfully, we already know what a lot of those will be, as Sony also confirmed for us 11 different launch titles, from The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR to Hello Neighbor: Search & Rescue.
