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News Video Games

Sequel may be closer as Activision secretly acquires BlackOps2.com domain

Black Ops 2

A sequel to Call of Duty: Black Ops, one of the best-selling games of all-time, may seem more likely as it appears Activision has secretly acquired the domain name blackops2.com.

First registered in May 2010 shortly after Black Ops was announced, the domain remained under Whois privacy up until this week using Go Daddy’s Domains by Proxy service.

Now, the domain blackops2.com (Whois) has switched from Domains by Proxy to the privacy service provided by internet brand protection company MarkMonitor, who caters to over half the Fortune 100, of which Activision is a client.

In August, I reported that Activision went through MarkMonitor to buy up a slew of Black Ops domains, all the way up to BlackOps6.com. 

Missing from the list was blackops2.com. 

A deal has now apparently been struck.

Treyarch, the development studio behind Call of Duty: Black Ops, hasn’t officially gone on record to say it is creating a sequel.  But with all these domain acquisitions, signs point to a Black Ops 2 being a very strong possibility in 2012.

If a cash amount was paid, the sale price of the domain will likely remain unknown, as the previous owner’s identity and contact information were hidden through Go Daddy’s privacy service.

As of today, BlackOps2.com does not resolve a web page.

[Update 1 on February 17, 2012: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 has been outed by Amazon reports GameSpy.]

Discussion: Joystiq, Game Informer, IGN, N4G, Side Mission, PC Gamer Magazine, Cinema Blend, Forbes, Shacknews, This Is Xbox, VG247, Xbox 360 Achievements, Onlinewelten, elotrolado.net, Digital Trends, MMOMFG, RipTen, Just Push Start, Gameranx, Yahoo! News, GameDynamo, GamersHell.com, JVN.com, RevogamersWe Got This Covered, Product Reviews4Gamer.netCo-Optimus, Connected Consoles, Eurogamer.se, iNSIDE, Power Unlimited, games.co.il, GamingSackGamefly and GamesRadar

Categories
News Video Games

Zynga goes on domain buying spree for new Scramble with Friends app

Scramble with Friends

On Thursday, Zynga announced the launch of the mobile social game Scramble With Friends, saying, “Scramble with Friends is a fast-paced, fun-packed game that combines the brain bending experience of Zynga’s original Scramble.” 

On the same day the social gaming company announced the game on its blog, it also registered several domain names through the brand protection company MarkMonitor, like scramblewithfriends2.com and playscramblewithfriends.com.

Zynga doesn’t own scramble.com, and it’s hard to say whether the company officially owns ScramblewithFriends.com.  The web address, which was first registered back in January 2011 according to WHOIS records, points to a Go Daddy parked page.  The owner is currently hidden using Go Daddy’s privacy service Domains by Proxy. 

Here’s the full list of domains that were registered on January 5 through MarkMonitor.

playscramblewithfriends.com
scramblewithfriends2.com
scramblewithfriends3.com
scramblewithfriendsandroid.com
scramblewithfriendsapp.com
scramblewithfriendsfacebook.com
scramblewithfriendsgame.com
scramblewithfriendshd.com
scramblewithfriendsipad.com
scramblewithfriendsiphone.com
scramblewithfriendslive.com
scramblewithfriendsmobile.com
scramblewithfriendsplus.com
wwwscramblewithfriends.com

Scramble with Friends is available for download on the App Store for iPhone and iPod touch and will be coming soon for Android.

Categories
News Video Games

Electronic Arts registers Quicklime Games via brand protection company

Electronic Arts offices

Electronic Arts made an interesting domain purchase this week through CSC, a company that helps businesses protect their brands. 

On January 4, EA registered the domain name QuicklimeGames.com (WHOIS).

It’s unknown why the company registered the name. 

The web address currently does not resolve to a web page and EA has made no announcement regarding Quicklime Games.  EA already has a large number of studios and development teams, but perhaps another studio awaits.

For those who do not know the meaning of the word Quicklime, it’s a chemical compound that is a key ingredient in making cement. 

Discussion: GameSpot

(Image of EA corporate headquarters in Redwood Shores, California via EA.com)

Categories
News Video Games

Top 10 Stories of 2011: #2 Activision battles for ModernWarfare3.com domain

Modern Warfare 3

Activision won rights to the domain ModernWarfare3.com in early September, bringing a saga that dragged on for months to a close.

My coverage of the whole affair from beginning to end drew thousands of thousands of page views, along with mentions from nearly every major video gaming news site and blog.

It was Activision’s decision to file a domain dispute over ModernWarfare3.com that earned the number two spot in the Top 10 stories of 2011.

The coverage began in January 2011, when I wrote about Activision missing out on several Modern Warfare domain names, including ModernWarfare3.com. 

In May, information and dates were leaked on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to Kotaku

Shortly after the online buzz started, the owner of ModernWarfare3.com put up a website and literally gained thousands of fans on Facebook overnight.  Then the website abruptly went offline for days, in what appeared to be a response by the owner to Activision’s lawyers. 

When the site came back online however, the same owner launched a revamped website that lashed out at Activision, in a series of statements and videos, throwing support instead to Call of Duty’s biggest competitor – Electronic Arts’ Battlefield 3.

Still, at this point, no one else was covering it.

It was my story on ModernWarfare3.com re-directing to EA’s Battlefield 3 website in July that started drawing attention by sites like Kotaku.  The move to forward the domain proved embarrassing for Activision.

What followed were a series of breaking stories that continued to draw massive traffic.

In mid July, Activision officially filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum that I got my hands on. 

After the complaint was filed, Go Daddy removed the privacy service on the domain, revealing the identity of the owner.

In September, Activision triumphed and the domain was ordered transferred.

By October, the domain resolved to CallofDuty.com.

If Activision decides to release a Modern Warfare 4, it may want to handle things a little differently.  As of today, ModernWarfare4.com doesn’t belong to Activision.

Categories
News Video Games

Top 10 Stories of 2011: #10 Rainbow 6 Patriots revealed by domain registrations

Rainbow 6: Patriots

Several of this year’s Top 10 stories here on Fusible have to do with video gaming. 

So it’s no surprise that the story of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Patriots is number ten on the list. 

After noticing that Ubisoft registered eight different domain names on October 27, like assassinscreedrecollection.com and horsehaventhegame.com, also among the names were two that stood out because there was no information or news on them at the time — rainbow6patriots.com and rainbowsixpatriots.com.

I speculated that the next title in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six series would be Rainbow 6: Patriots.

Well, as it turned out, my speculation was soon confirmed by -BLITZ-, a member of the popular NeoGAF forum.  -BLITZ- had seen the logos, arts, covers and rendered game screens for Rainbow 6: Patriots.

The story got a lot of play online, with some of the biggest video gaming sites like Kotaku, Game InformerJoystiq, Gamespy.com, and more than a dozen more news sites, citing the story.

Days after my story went online, Ubisoft officially confirmed the title on November 3.

Here’s a look at the reveal trailer by Ubisoft.