Crispy Gamer News

Here a little tidbit from the files of Captain Obvious. Blizzard Entertainment today announced that World of Warcraft’s second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, has sold more than 2.8 million copies in its first 24 hours of availability, making it the fastest-selling PC game of all time. Who was the previous record holder? Why, none other than Blizzard’s last WoW expansion The Burning Crusdae, which sold nearly 2.4 million copies in 24 hours back in January 2007

Wrath of the Lich King was simultaneously released in North America, Europe, Chile, Argentina, and Russia on November 13th; in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand on November 14th; and South Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on November 18th. In celebration of the launch, more than 15,000 stores throughout the world had their doors open at midnight to welcome thousands of expectant players. Several of these locations were attended by Blizzard Entertainment representatives, who met players and signed copies of the game.

“We’re grateful for the incredible support that players around the world have continued to show for World of Warcraft,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Wrath of the Lich King contains some of the best content we’ve created for the game so far, and we look forward to seeing even more players log in to experience it in the days ahead.”

You remember what they say about real estate? It’s all about three things: Location. Location. Location. That’s the first thing that came to mind when we got word today that Codemasters had reached a deal with Activision Blizzard to buy UK-based developer, Swordfish Studios. If you’ve got that odd sense of déjà vu, you’re not alone. Earlier this week, we reported that developer Monumental Games had also acquired Swordfish from Activision Blizzard. No, this isn’t a case of double dipping, and yes, both news bites are correct … it’s just a matter of location.
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Late in the day yesterday, Ubisoft announced that it was picking up one of the casualties of the Activision Blizzard merger, and has acquired the assets and all of the personnel of Sweden- based studio Massive Entertainment, as well as the World In Conflict RTS brand.

“We are delighted to welcome the talented team of creators at Massive into the Ubisoft family,” said Christine Burgess-Quemard, executive director of worldwide production studios at Ubisoft. “Ubisoft is growing at an intense pace and our strategy is to ensure the strength of our global creative teams. Massive has put together a group of some of the most confirmed and recognized creators in the industry and I know that their talent and innovation will allow them to seamlessly integrate into our worldwide network of production studios.”
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The employee lounge over at Activision Blizzard got a little more crowded on Friday, as the company announced that it has appointed Brad Jakeman to the newly created position of Chief Creative Officer, starting in early November 2008. Prior to joining Activision, Jakeman served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Marketing for upscale retail giant, Macy’s, Inc.

“We are very pleased to welcome Brad to our executive team as we continue to grow and expand our operations across the globe,” said Griffith. “Brad’s impressive track record of success leading brand strategy and creative advertising over the past 20 years, coupled with his considerable marketing experience, makes him an ideal candidate for this position. His appointment further strengthens our management team as we grow to meet the increasing demand for video games worldwide.”
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Ever since Activision and Vivendi Games gave birth to Activision Blizzard, gamers have been wondering just what would happen the titles lost in the fallout. Well, for all of you 50 Cent fans out there (both of you), there was some good news coming out of Australia this weekend.

According to a listing at the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification, 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand has officially gone through the classification process, being given a rating of MA 15+ on Friday. The game was submitted for classification by THQ Asia Pacific and will be published in the region by THQ.

While Fiddy may have found a new home through THQ, there’s still no official word on any of the other Activision Blizzard casualties, though one can’t help but think it won’t be too much longer before we learn the fate of games like Ghostbusters and Brutal Legend.

Glider, a “bot program” that runs characters on behalf of players in World of Warcraft, has been taken to the woodshed by Blizzard Entertainment. The program’s creators have been forced to pay a whopping judgment of $6 million dollars. This massive and painful award to be paid by MDY Industries follows a defeat in court in July of this year when a U.S. District Court ruled in favor of WOW makers Blizzard.

While this latest round of legal action against the company and its founder Michael Donnelly, is a decisive defeat, more legal action is on the way in January of next year when the parties will slug it out over some remaining issues in this lawsuit. There’s a lesson to be learned here for bot makers, spammers and gold sellers: Blizzard isn’t messing around.

Source: BBC News

The Lich King is coming in November and he is rallying an army of the undead not seen since Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness. The latest expansion to World of Warcraft will be in stores on November 13 in North America, Europe, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Russia, and on November 14 in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. The expansion will be available in Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on November 18. A launch and release date for China is to be announced.

Wrath of the Lich King will be available in both a standard edition and a special Collector’s Edition (in select areas). The Collector’s Edition will contain an art book, behind-the-scenes DVD, exclusive in-game pet, and more.