Activision: We Were Lucky With Timing of MW3 Leak

Logan Westbrook

Transform, Roll Out, Etc
Feb 21, 2008
17,672
0
0
Activision: We Were Lucky With Timing of MW3 Leak

Infinity Ward and Activision were apparently just about to reveal Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Modern-Warfare-Xbox-360/dp/B00503E8S2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306172369&sr=8-1] to the world when the leak happened.

Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg says that Activision was lucky that the Modern Warfare 3 leak happened so close to the date of the official reveal. Last week [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110190-Activision-Engaging-With-Fans-Turned-MW3-Leak-Into-a-Triumph], Hirshberg said that Activision had been able to turn the leak into an opportunity, but it seems that had it been any earlier, then the situation might have been very different.

In an email to Activision employees, Hirshberg said that the difference between the leak and the official reveal was just a week, so Activision had lots of promotional material ready to go. It also meant that Activision had its presales programmes prepared, and was able to launch them without delay. These initiatives have proven very successful, he said, and pre-sales for the game were already off to a great start. Hirshberg added that he was incredibly proud of how his team handled the leak and that despite the sudden and unexpected change of plans, everyone delivered under pressure.

He did acknowledge, however, that although Activision had been able to make the leak work in its favor, it did represent a pretty significant security breach, and it was not something that the company was taking lightly. "Activision takes very seriously any abuse of our intellectual property," he said. "The event is under investigation and we're confident it will be resolved quickly."

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 comes out on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on November 8th.

Source: Giant Bomb [http://www.giantbomb.com/news/what-activision-told-its-employees-today-about-modern-warfare-3s-leak/3228/]


Permalink
 

Art Axiv

Cultural Code-Switcher
Dec 25, 2008
662
0
0
Activision pulling an Apple "Oh, one of our testers ACCIDENTALLY left an iPhone in a bar, if you found it please send it to us!".
 

UltimatheChosen

New member
Mar 6, 2009
1,007
0
0
I've never really understood why it's considered a secret that they're making sequels to these games. Was anyone actually at all surprised that MW3 was coming?
 

RiboNucleicAxe

New member
May 20, 2011
28
0
0
UltimatheChosen said:
I've never really understood why it's considered a secret that they're making sequels to these games. Was anyone actually at all surprised that MW3 was coming?
I get this feeling too. Are we meant to be surprised that they're making a sequel to a successful game?
Perhaps they were just afraid that we'd get a chance to think about the new game without their careful guidance as to what exactly we think...
 

paragon1

New member
Dec 8, 2008
1,121
0
0
Okay, I've been out of the gaming news loop for a little while, so I'm a bit confused. Didn't Infinity Ward leave Activision for EA? And isn't there multiple lawsuits still ongoing between them over the IP? How are they making this game together? Did I miss something?
 

Krion_Vark

New member
Mar 25, 2010
1,700
0
0
UltimatheChosen said:
I've never really understood why it's considered a secret that they're making sequels to these games. Was anyone actually at all surprised that MW3 was coming?
The only thing surprising about the CoD games is the next name after the CoD title. Thats it. I am intrigued by the trailers this game has but thats about it. It'll probably be another multiplayer heavy cash in on what could be a good series if handled right.
 

Zenn3k

New member
Feb 2, 2009
1,323
0
0
Sorry, MW3 will have to shit puppies for me to consider purchasing it. Yes, puppies.

After the terrible release that was MW2, I have no desire to give them anymore of my money.
 

TerribleAssassin

New member
Apr 11, 2010
2,053
0
0
Zenn3k said:
Sorry, MW3 will have to shit puppies for me to consider purchasing it. Yes, puppies.

After the terrible release that was MW2, I have no desire to give them anymore of my money.
Seconded, I might play it at my freinds, but still, if it looks any good, there might be a bit of curiosity.
 

siahsargus

New member
Jul 28, 2010
189
0
0
UltimatheChosen said:
I've never really understood why it's considered a secret that they're making sequels to these games. Was anyone actually at all surprised that MW3 was coming?
No and it's so routine that this "hack" probably generated more free publicity than any new COD announcement could. I seems like an obvious setup, crackers wouldn't go for conveniently finished teaser trailers, they would go for the game itself.
 

paketep

New member
Jul 14, 2008
260
0
0
Yeah, like anybody doubted that yet-another-pos-call-of-duty was coming.

And since the leak did their work for them, can they please fire Bowling already?.
 

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
20,364
0
0
siahsargus said:
UltimatheChosen said:
I've never really understood why it's considered a secret that they're making sequels to these games. Was anyone actually at all surprised that MW3 was coming?
No and it's so routine that this "hack" probably generated more free publicity than any new COD announcement could. I seems like an obvious setup, crackers wouldn't go for conveniently finished teaser trailers, they would go for the game itself.
That's not what happened. Someone leaked a bunch of information to Kotaku, then Activision released the actual teaser trailers.

Hacking had nothing to do with it. It's suspect, sure, but it being a genuine leak isn't out of the realm of possibility.
 

siahsargus

New member
Jul 28, 2010
189
0
0
John Funk said:
siahsargus said:
UltimatheChosen said:
I've never really understood why it's considered a secret that they're making sequels to these games. Was anyone actually at all surprised that MW3 was coming?
No and it's so routine that this "hack" probably generated more free publicity than any new COD announcement could. I seems like an obvious setup, crackers wouldn't go for conveniently finished teaser trailers, they would go for the game itself.
That's not what happened. Someone leaked a bunch of information to Kotaku, then Activision released the actual teaser trailers.

Hacking had nothing to do with it. It's suspect, sure, but it being a genuine leak isn't out of the realm of possibility.
I know thats why i put hack in quotation marks to display its erroneous use. And seriously leaking info to Kotaku? Did anyone else's bullshit detectors go off. It's not like this next CoD isn't going to print money though, Activision shouldn't even worry about airing commercials.
 

omega_peaches

New member
Jan 23, 2010
1,331
0
0
paketep said:
Yeah, like anybody doubted that yet-another-pos-call-of-duty was coming.

And since the leak did their work for them, can they please fire Bowling already?.
What's wrong with fourzerotwo?
But yeah, the biggest "OH YEAH BROS, WE MEANT TO DO THAT." ever.