Activision

Those of us who thought Microsoft was done with big money gaming purchases after its $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media last year were sorely mistaken, it seems. Today, Microsoft announced its intention to buy Activision Blizzard for a staggering $68.7 billion. With this acquisition, a lot of popular game franchises will come under the ownership of Microsoft, including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and even Candy Crush.

Continue Reading

It has been a heck of a year for the game industry. With the COVID-19 pandemic serving as the backdrop, we've had a lot of ups and downs this year. From the major revelations about Activision Blizzard to the ongoing semiconductor shortage that continues to impact manufacturing, 2021 was filled with big headlines. Here are some of the biggest stories that defined the year in gaming.

Continue Reading

Two of Blizzard's big upcoming titles have been hit with delays. During its most recent financial earnings call with investors, Activision Blizzard announced that both Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 have been delayed. In addition, the company announced that Jen Oneal will be leaving her position as co-leader of Blizzard at the end of the year, meaning Mike Ybarra will be the sole leader of Blizzard.

Continue Reading

There's no question that cheaters ruin free-to-play and paid games alike, and they seem to congregate in competitive shooter games. Developers and publishers often employ some kind of anti-cheat to keep the cheaters at bay, but today, Activision is taking things one step further by announcing its own anti-cheat called Ricochet. The new anti-cheat software will be going live in both Call of Duty: Vanguard and Warzone later this year.

Continue Reading

If you didn't get to play the Call of Duty: Vanguard open beta over the weekend, we've got some good news for you: Activision and Sledgehammer Games have decided to extend it into this week. Originally slated to wrap up today at 10 AM PDT/1 PM EDT, the beta will instead run for a couple more days, giving those who missed out (or those who were having fun and weren't quite ready for the open beta to end) more time to play.

Continue Reading

In recent weeks, Activision Blizzard has been at the center of considerable controversy, following a lawsuit from California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing that alleged far-reaching sexism, harassment, and abuse at the company. Amid a series of departures from high-ranking employees at the company - including former Blizzard president J. Allen Brack - Blizzard has now revealed that it will be changing the name of Overwatch character Jesse McCree.

Continue Reading

We had a feeling that Call of Duty: Vanguard would be a big part of today's Opening Night Live event at Gamescom 2021, and that turned out to be true. Not only did Geoff Keighley have actress Laura Bailey on hand to talk about the game, but we also got to see an extended gameplay demo from Vanguard's campaign. This is the best look at Vanguard we've had yet.

Continue Reading

Call of Duty is one of the most iconic first-person shooters in recent years, spanning multiple mainline sequels and a Modern Warfare spin-off that has branched into a franchise of its own. After that modern diversion, developers Sledgehammer Games and Treyarch are going back to the original WWII setting of the game with Call of Duty: Vanguard. While the launch date is still a few months away, PlayStation gamers will be treated to an alpha version of the game, which will include CoD's new multiplayer mode, Champion Hill.

Continue Reading

It's a big weekend for Diablo fans, as the open beta has just kicked off for Diablo 2: Resurrected. Last weekend, we had a closed beta that was only accessible to those who pre-ordered the game, but this weekend, the beta is open to everyone regardless of pre-order status. The beta is live on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Playstation 5, and PC, and here we'll tell you how to get access to it if you weren't already in last weekend.

Continue Reading

As promised, today Activision and Sledgehammer Games revealed Call of Duty: Vanguard, the next game in the long-running franchise. Today's reveal was fairly broad, with Activision and Sledgehammer revealing the various game modes for Vanguard while holding off on announcing most of the specifics for now. The two companies also confirmed the release date for Call of Duty: Vanguard, which has become a common announcement for these reveal events.

Continue Reading

Just as the leaks and rumors foretold, it seems that Call of Duty: Vanguard is being revealed later this week. Activision and Sledgehammer Games have confirmed reveal details for Call of Duty: Vanguard along with dropping a new teaser for the game. The teaser doesn't tell us much, but thankfully, it won't be long before we have more concrete details about Call of Duty: Vanguard.

Continue Reading

Call of Duty fans have been waiting the entire summer for a full reveal of the next game in the series, and it looks like they're going to get it this week. Teasers for the reveal of Call of Duty: Vanguard have started appearing in numerous places, confirming that the new game will be revealed on August 19th. It even seems that Call of Duty will be taking a page out of Fortnite's playbook when it comes to this reveal.

Continue Reading