The past few weeks have been busy behind the scenes, regretfully not very busy news wise, but I thought I’d give you guys an update on what’s happening behind the scenes in the meantime.

PC Patch 1.6

Last update I let you know we had to send it back to development due to a few bugs which we’re found. Regretfully not much has changed, but the team is still working on it with plans to get it out, when I get a better ETA on when you can expect it I’ll be sure to pass it along as well as details on what all it will include.

New Infinityward.com In The Works:

Right now we’re working on a new design for the InfinityWard.com site that will help us make it the more OFFICIAL one-stop news and community source for fans of our games. It will essentially take the place of Charlieoscardelta.com, and replace the old Infinityward.com and give us a dedicated dev blog where I can post a lot of the stuff I typically only post here. I’ll still post it all here as well as well as more non-game related things, but it will also be there too for those who aren’t familiar with this blog.

We’re also working on an updated dedicated forum software for it to replace our current set up, user profiles, and other new features. We’re aiming to have that launched by mid-June if all goes well. Meanwhile, we’re expanding our staff here at Infinity Ward in the web department and looking for someone to join me in maintaining the back-end / technical side of Infinityward.com. If you’re a “web guy” and would like to join the team here at Infinity Ward to help me out with back-end web stuff, then check out the job listing on our site and apply:

Job Posting: Web Builder

The job essentially consists of maintaining the new site we’re in the process of building and help as we build onto it in the future.

Online Store + New Shirts

While we’re building the new IW site, we’re also preparing to launch a new online store where we can offer some of the exclusive typically Dev Team only shirts we make throughout development. Such as the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare shirt I wore in the first video blog I did a few weeks back. I’ll also be wearing a new one we printed in the next video podcast that should be going up this week. Before the launch of the store though, in the next week or so I’m going to be posting up a few of the T-shirt designs we have planned and let you guys vote on which ones you’d like to see printed. Then we’ll print them up and put them in the store for you to get. We’re working on finalizing it all now, so be on the look for that in the coming week or so. The Store may launch before the new IW site, or with the full site launch in June (still working that out).

Community Mapping Contest

We’re finished taking submissions from US candidates and are about to open up submissions for UK, Spain, Italy, and France soon. We’re just now getting the approved legal back from all those territories now which will allow us to finalize it and get it up. Meanwhile we’ll be judging the maps submitted from US users over the next few weeks.

No News on 360 or PS3 Side

At this time there’s no news or updates on the console side of things. To clear up any rumors I seem to be sent a lot. We ARE NOT removing any perks or ‘nerfing’ any weapons now or in the future. M16 is staying as is, same with martyrdom and juggernaut. So we can put that one to rest, no changes to perks or weapons are coming.

Conclusion

That’s about it for now, we lost the #1 spot on Xbox Live to the extremely fast blitz attack from GTA IV which put us into 2nd place, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we make a comeback over the course of a few weeks as people start beating it’s single player, whether we do or not it’s great to have another great game to be fighting for the #1 spot with.

Other than that, everything else the team is working on is under wraps. I hope to get another video podcast up later this week that answers some of the over thousand questions I received from viewers of the first one, as well as give away some of the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare shirts I wore in the first one that you guys asked about. I have about 10 extras I plan on giving out to subscribers of the video podcast.

Microsoft’s Major Nelson has posted up his weekly update of the ‘Top Games on Xbox Live’ again and I’m happy to say for the time being (and the past months), Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is strongly holding the #1 spot of the most played game.

As we all know, GTA IV hit today, so I expect to see it forcing it’s way up the list in the next few weeks and excited to see how it takes Halo 3’s place as our biggest friendly competitor for the Top Spot of the most played game on Xbox Live. We fought hard to secure and keep the #1 spot for over four months now, and I’m excited to see how quickly GTA IV rises up the list.

Heads up to our PS3 players… Double XP on the PSN will be extended until Wednesday, at which point we’ll be shutting it off and then adding the new maps to the rotation on the existing play lists.

It was great playing with a lot of you guys this past Friday, I ranked up about 20 levels thanks to Double XP just in the hours during the “Play With Devs” event.

In short, get your double XP until Wednesday, and then enjoy the new maps on your favorite playlists.

For up to the minute status on what playlist we’re playing, go to:

http://twitter.com/fourzerotwo

It’s time! The Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare™ Variety Map Pack is available now for download through the PLAYSTATION®Network. To celebrate the launch, we’re hosting a Double XP Weekend, where players can earn twice as many experience points as they the new Variety Map Pack playlists on the new multiplayer maps starting at 12:01 GMT, Friday, April 25 through 11:59 PDT, Sunday, April 27 - although in all reality it’ll probably stop around Monday morning or so.

We’ll also be doing Play With Devs tomorrow on Friday, April 25, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT and 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. EDT.Make sure to add the following PLAYSTATION Network IDs to your friend’s list:

fourzerotwoiw

COD4DrewM

COD4Bryan

COD4Justin

COD4Brian

COD4David

The Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Variety Map Pack features four new multiplayer maps including “Broadcast,” featuring tight corridors and wide open parking lots where large groups will utilize close-quarter fighting and strategic maneuvers; “Chinatown” where night battles well lit by the full moon can play havoc against a backdrop of brightly colored lamps, antique shops and neon signs of the local district; “Killhouse,” a desolate warehouse under enemy attack where squads will need to move through building mock-ups and plywood walls in order to take control of the combat arena; and “Creek,” a wide open village in a heavily wooded area where battles are fought among high ridgelines and deep in underground caves.

Additionally, the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Game of the Year Edition for the PLAYSTATION 3 system will ship to North American retailers on May 6 which includes a token to access the new multiplayer maps featured in the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Variety Map Pack.

———–

UPDATE:

Great new guys! SCEE has really come through, here’s the latest from them:

Quote from: SCEE

The Store has been updated so that each product states which BLES code it works with.

Furthermore, the forums have been updated to explain how the download works. The call centres have also been updated about how to handle this.

I hope this clarifies the steps that SCEE are taking to ensure the consumer has a successful and enjoyable experience with the map packs.

It sure does. Thanks to everyone at SCEE for all the help in getting this straightened out.

—————

Hey Everyone –

Heads up for international users purchasing the Variety Map Pack for the PS3. The Variety Map Pack is Region Locked, which means that you MUST purchase the version of the map pack which is compatible with the version of the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare game disc that you have.

For example:

If you have the GERMAN version of the game, you MUST purchase the GERMAN version of the map pack.

If you have the UK version of the game, you MUST purchase the UK version of the map pack.

Just make sure that the Disc version and the Map Pack version matches up. If you have an UK version of the game, DO NOT purchase a German version of the map pack. It won’t work. The same goes for any other mismatched version.

For those of you who may have already purchased the incorrect language for the game disc you have, we are currently talking with Sony regarding any options you may have.

If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know. Thanks!

Heads up to our PC Community, most importantly our mapping community. We’ve begun accepting submissions for the Custom Community Map Contest we kicked off a while back. We’ve worked hard to open the contest up to our community worldwide (international contest laws are a pain in the ass btw). Head over to the Official Infinity Ward forums for a step by step guide to submitting your map for the contest.

Good luck to everyone who enters and I can’t wait to play all of your maps!

Community Mapping Contest - Submission Details (IW Forums)

As of recently, my love for my PS3 has been called into question when a blog post from over two years ago was pulled up from the watery grave of the internet and posted on Digg as well as the Playstation boards. For some reason, a post I make two years ago is news today… I guess, but I wanted to put it into context as the posting on Digg surely doesn’t.

Essentially the post was made over two years ago and was about the closing of the game site called Lik-sang.com due to some legal trouble with Sony. Yes, I criticized Sony about their handling of the situation two years ago and was frustrated with the PS3. I also stole a candy bar when I was nine.

Does that mean (I repeat, two years later) I still don’t like the PS3 or Sony? No. It doesn’t. In fact, I actually have a PS3 in my game room right now that I love and a large selection of Blu-ray movies. Not to mention I’m quite fond of plenty of PS3 games (CoD4 of course, I love Drake’s Fortune, Warhawk is fun as hell, and I can’t wait till GTAIV.).

I know it’s shocking, but I’m a person. Most importantly I’m a gamer. I got frustrated, I ranted on my blog. It’s what I do. I mean come on… would I ride a roller coaster with something I didn’t like?… I think the answer to that is evident.

I hope that puts it in a bit more perspective. The truth is we have a FANTASTIC working relationship with Sony. SCEE has been a huge help in helping us get the Variety Map Pack to come out in line with SCEA so we have a simultaneous worldwide release this Thursday, April 24th.

We also have Play W/ Devs Event on Friday where the IW crew and myself will be playing with you guys on PSN all day to kick off the Map Pack release and DOUBLE XP WEEKEND! I’ll also be stopping by the Official Playstation Blog this week to chat a bit more about all of this and to you guys, so be sure to check that out.

Let me know if there is anything else I can address or answer for you guys and I’d be more than happy to.

from youtube.com posted with vodpod

Since this is the first, I feel it deserves a bit of an introduction. I’ve decided to kick off a video blog on the site, with the first episode lovely titled “The One About Nothing” being posted above. The concept behind the new video blog is to allow you guys a more visual look into game development or anything else you want.

As I said in the video, let me know what you guys want to see. I know there has been a lot of request to see some footage inside Infinity Ward as well as other things and I’m hoping this little video blog will allow us to do that. Ever wonder what a development kit looks like? how it works? Or what the game looks like in the eye of a designer? Ever want to see inside the studio or check out the offices?

Also feel free to ask questions about anything from the game, to how to get into the industry, to what a daily life in development is like. I think it’d be a cool way to get you guys more connected with the development of our games and the industry in general for any fans or potential future game developers. So let me know what you think and how we can make this work as I’d love to start doing them on a regular basis.

Be sure to check out it’s direct link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOlJTEVXXoY

and Subscribe to the Channel to stay connected with future videos if you like the concept. Meanwhile, head over to the YouTube page to comment or leave your comment here on what you’d like to see more of in any future videos. Thanks guys.

I wanted to keep you guys in the loop on how the Map Contest is rounding out for all the PC mappers waiting to submit their maps. We had hoped to start accepting submissions by now but regretfully (as typically happens) the legal required participants to be US only which was unacceptable for us. So we’ve been working on making it open to worldwide participants which requires quite a bit more legal / contest rule work due to the different laws and regulations in each country.

We could have launched it and made it US only but I know we have a fantastic worldwide community of mappers that would have got severely screwed if it was that way and I won’t let that happen. So that’s what’s holding things up right now. The good news is submissions should be starting THIS WEEK as we’re in the final stages of chasing down our international legal department. Once we have it all confirmed, I hope to have the submission page linked here for you so you can start sending in your custom maps for the contest.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns and I’ll answer what I can.

As for the 1.6 patch which was going through test, we found a critical bug during QA which broke kill cams when playing with mods among other things which put a hold on it and put it back in development. We’re continuing to evaluate it and looking into releasing it when the map pack potentially hits PC. I’ll keep you updated as it progresses, but right now it won’t be coming out anytime soon while we track down this bug.

Last week I let you guys know that the Variety Map Pack would be hitting PSN on April 24th for North America and May 1st for Europe, well NOT ANYMORE! I’m happy to say we’ve been pushing this past week and with the help of Sony Europe, are happy to announce that the Variety Map Pack on PS3 will be coming out at the SAME TIME, worldwide on April 24th for $9.99!!

The Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Variety Map Packfor PS3 will be available on the PlayStation Network on Thursday April, 24 for both the US and Europe!

Additionally, since they won’t be coming out on two different days anymore all the Double XP / Play with the Devs goodness will be on the same day. Enjoy Double XP all weekend for both continents from 12:01 AM GMT on Friday, April 25 to 11:59 PM PDT on Sunday, April 27. We are also making Friday, April, 25 a “Play with the Devs” day. The Infinity Ward team will be playing online on Friday, April 25 from 11AM to 2PM PDT and from 5 PM to 8 PM PDT.

I look forward to playing with you guys on PSN on April 25th and I’m sure (more than) a few of you can’t wait to shoot me in the face!