Tag: activision

Domains show Activision may create a new game called “Skylanders Giants”

Post author By J.B.
Post date January 21, 2012
3 Comments on Domains show Activision may create a new game called “Skylanders Giants”

Activision, which is a known client of the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor, has apparently gone on a small buying spree for “Skylanders Giants” domain names, hinting that a new game is in the works.

On January 19, the video game company that released Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure last year, acquired six domains with Skylanders Giants in the name like SkylandersGiants.com and SkylandersGiantsgame.com.

Although the owner of each name is hidden behind Whois privacy, because MarkMonitor is in the business of protecting brands of some of the biggest companies, the owner is all but guaranteed to be Activision.

Here’s the list of names that were registered:

http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiants.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiants.dk
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiants.it
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiants.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiantsgame.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiantsgame.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/theskylandersgiants.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/theskylandersgiants.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiants.fr

At the time of this story none of the domains resolve to a website and Activision has made no official announcement.

[Update 1 on February 7, 2012: Activision announced Skylanders: Giants. It is scheduled to be released in Fall 2012.]

Discussion: Giant Bomb, Joystiq, Wired.com, Co-Optimus, Multiplayer.it, VG247, Eurogamer.se, Eurogamer.it, Game Rant, darkSpyro Forums, Shacknews, Family Gamer and NeoGAF

Tags activision, Activision domains, dnstination, MarkMonitor, Skylanders, Skylanders Giants, Skylanders Spyro's Adventure, WHOIS privacy

News Video Games

ProjectIronWolf.com Whois record changes hint Activision may be involved

Post author By J.B.
Post date January 14, 2012
1 Comment on ProjectIronWolf.com Whois record changes hint Activision may be involved

Since early August when a Treyarch employee was caught playing a game titled “Iron Wolf” on the Xbox 360, rumors of the next Call of Duty series being called “Iron Wolf” or “Project Iron Wolf” have been swirling on the internet.

A fake website located at ironwolfproject.com, likely setup by a Call of Duty fanboy, even went online in late December albeit with some significant errors like the misspelling of “Treyarch”.

Whether it’s a more clever stunt by another Call of Duty fanboy or a sneaky but legitimate transfer to Activision’s legal department, the domain name projectironwolf.com (Whois) was updated earlier this week and now has Whois details that match that of Activision’s other coveted domain names like CallofDuty.com (Whois).

The biggest similarities include the domain servers listed, as well as the address and phone information.

The big difference between the two Whois records, of course, is the name used as the contact, which is the telltale sign that this is nothing more than another silly stunt. Whereas Activision’s Whois contact used for its domains is usually Mary Tuck, the company’s litigation counsel, the contact listed for projectironwolf.com is currently George Pharell, who also uses an unrelated e-mail: callofdutytiw -at- post.com.

Post.com is owned and operated by World Media Group, LLC, an online company that specializes in owning premium domain names like doctor.com and lawyer.com.

According to Whois historical records, projectironwolf.com was first registered in early January by a resident of the Ukraine. The domain name changed hands days later to George Pharell.

Recently, the owner of the name (who ran a now suspended Twitter account) redirected visitors to CallofDuty.com, but as of today, the web address does not resolve to any web page.

I’ve reached out to George Pharell by e-mail, who appears to have a lot of free time on his hands, and will update this post if I hear back.

The Whois changes to ProjectIronWolf.com appear to be just an online ruse, but with all the “Iron Wolf” buzz emerging, I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether the domain ends up in the hands of Activision.

Activision’s involvement in this whole thing, may merely be a matter of a cease-and-desist letter.

Discussion: This Is Xbox

Tags activision, Activision domains, Call of Duty series, Call of Duty: Iron Wolf, Call of Duty: Project Iron Wolf, fanboy, internet stunt, Iron Wolf, Mary Tuck, Project Iron Wolf, Treyarch, Ukraine, whois

News Video Games

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

Post author By J.B.
Post date January 8, 2012
9 Comments on Sequel may be closer as Activision secretly acquires BlackOps2.com domain

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, Revogamers, We Got This Covered, Product Reviews, 4Gamer.net, Co-Optimus, Connected Consoles, Eurogamer.se, iNSIDE, Power Unlimited, games.co.il, GamingSack, Gamefly and GamesRadar

Tags activision, Activision domains, Black Ops, Black Ops 2, call of duty, call of duty black ops, Call of Duty Black Ops 2, call of duty modern warfare, DNStination Inc, Domains by Proxy, featured, Go Daddy, MarkMonitor, WHOIS privacy

News Video Games

Finally, ModernWarfare3.com points to official Call of Duty MW3 website

Post author By J.B.
Post date October 9, 2011
3 Comments on Finally, ModernWarfare3.com points to official Call of Duty MW3 website

The domain name ModernWarfare3.com is finally being re-directed to the official Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 website.

Activision won rights to the web address in early September, after online taunting by the previous owner Anthony Abraham who had lashed out at Activision in a series of statements and videos that appeared on the then ModernWarfare3.com website.

Things came to a head in July when Abraham re-directed the web address to Electronic Arts’ official Battlefield 3 website, prompting Activision to file a complaint.

Activision’s trademark attorneys at Millen, White, Zelano & Branigan, P.C, took control of ModernWarfare3.com in late September.

As of yesterday, the domain points to callofduty.com/MW3.

Discussion: Kotaku and Game Rant

Tags activision, Activision domains, call of duty, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, featured, Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 3, MW3