‘Call of Duty’ blitzes on debut

Abrams, ‘Infinity Blade’ maker join forces for new game

TBy Glenn Chapman

This screen image released by Activision shows a battle scene from ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops III.’ (AP)

he latest “Call of Duty” video game boasted an opening weekend that blew away any other game, film, book or music debut this year, the company behind it said Wednesday.

“Call of Duty: Black Ops III” racked up more than $550 million in sales in the three days after its release on Nov 6, according to Californiabased Activision Publishing, a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard.

“Call of Duty’s millions of passionate fans have shown us, yet again, the strength of their commitment to this enduring franchise,” said Activision Blizzard chief executive Bobby Kotick.

It was “the biggest entertainment launch this year in any medium, and bigger than any theatrical opening weekend ever,” he added.

Fans played the game online for more than 75 million hours, setting a new record for the blockbuster franchise.

Black Ops III is the 12th game in the series, testimony to its longevity and ability to reinvent itself, all the while earning it a loyal following of tens of millions of fans.

“Our fans are engaging more deeply with the franchise than ever before,” said Activision Publishing chief executive Eric Hirshberg.

“Call of Duty is more than a game, it’s a year round passion for a growing base of millions of fans and it’s only gaining momentum.”

The latest mission in the first-person shooter franchise sends players into a “dark and twisted future.”

For Activision Blizzard, the latest revamp of its gaming megahit aimed to revive stagnating sales and came hot on the heels of an announcement that it is buying the maker of the addictive “Candy Crush Saga,” King Digital Entertainment, for $5.9 billion — tapping into a market of half a billion gamers worldwide.

This time the action is set in the year 2065. Climate change has spawned fierce competition over scarce resources. Highly effective anti-aircraft systems mean fighting is on the ground, and often in covert or “black” operations.

Launched

The game launched across an array of consoles and PCs.

“Call of Duty: Black Ops III is off to a great start,” said Bob Puzon, senior vice-president of merchandising for US retail chain GameStop.

“The game’s story line, new features and intense zombie mode have helped make it our most successful title launch so far this year.”

“Black Ops III” was created by Treyarch studio and published by Activision.

And while the latest incarnation harks back to recent episodes, notably with shades of 2014’s Advanced Warfare, it is a far cry from its debut based on World War II action.

Advances in consoles mean that for the first time the “Campaign” — the main narrative of the game — can be played with friends. It also features women soldiers.

As usual the game offers over-theInternet multiplayer battles as well, not to mention “Zombies” mode as gamers look to survive attacks from hordes of the living dead.

Activision uses three developer studios so a new “Call of Duty” title is available each year.

Two years ago, when the creator of the hit mobile game series “Infinity Blade” joked at the latest iPhone unveiling that the device would boast “lens flares that would make

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proud,” Chair Entertainment co-founder was actually making an inside reference to his top-secret collaboration with the “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” filmmaker.

Abrams’ Bad Robot production company and Chair have been clandestinely working in tandem since 2013 on a colorful espionage game for PC and mobile devices titled “Spyjinx.”

The partnership came about because Abrams and his children were fans of Chair’s games like the sidescroller “Shadow Complex” and sword fighting simulator “Infinity Blade,” while the developers at Chair were admirers of Abrams’ film and TV projects. With a release set for 2016, Mustard said they’re now ready to start talking about the partnership out in the open.

Team

“When we build our games, we work very closely together as a team,” said Mustard. “J.J. and all the other awesome people at Bad Robot quickly folded into that process. We all sat down with a blank slate and basically said, ‘We can build anything. What do we want to build?’ It went from there.”

For the team at Bad Robot, the opportunity meant diving deeper into interactive entertainment after releasing the quirky special effects app “Action Movie FX” and working with Valve on a new mode for the multiplayer shooter game “Team Fortress 2.”

“We really wanted to expand into this area of entertainment,” Abrams said in a video posted Wednesday by Chair. “Typically, Hollywood and games have not gone together well. There are some notable exceptions but not too many, and so we met these amazing people at Chair — not just as fans but as potential collaborators.”

Instead of leaning on pre-established Hollywood franchises like “Star Trek” or “Mission Impossible,” Bad Robot and Chair, a subsidiary of Epic Games, opted to start from scratch with an all-new title combining several different game types.

“It’s all about you creating an elite team of agents that can covertly reach or retrieve anything, anywhere, anytime while also building your secret, glamorous lair,” said Mustard. “It’s a blend of action real-time strategy wrapped up in dynamic world building but with a deep role-playing character development system set in this really bright, colorful world that’s full of thieves, assassins and con-artists.”

Mustard said the teams have mostly been collaborating electronically by video conferencing and sharing files. When they need face time, the Santa Monica, Calif, offices of Bad Robot are just a short flight from Chair’s Salt Lake City, Utah, headquarters. Mustard noted that despite his commitment to “Force Awakens,” Abrams has been actively involved in the game’s development.

“J.J. is very much a gamer,” said Mustard. “It’s not just lip service. When he was still in the middle of filming ‘Star Wars’ last year, he would call me up with suggestions for ‘Spyjinx.’ He understands the core tenants of game design. I think he sees there’s a very viable form of entertainment that is interactive. J.J. loves telling stories, and this is another avenue for him to tell awesome stories.”

Despite his willingness to discuss “Spyjinx,” Mustard isn’t prepared to show off the game just yet or confirm if it will indeed feature Abrams’ signature lighting embellishment: the lens flare. (Agencies)