Tag: activision

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News Video Games

CallofDutyModernWarfare.com, doesn’t go to Activision after being released

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

The owner of ModernWarfare3.com has managed to rack up nearly 7,000 “Likes” on Facebook for its unofficial fan site that looks a whole lot like the official MW3 site, but the bad news is most people Liking the page probably have no idea that the website is not an official Activision property. 

The fact is, Activision continues to blunder when it comes to domain names. 

Of course, the chore of registering domain names or getting them on the drop or aftermarket, is made all the more difficult by having the best video game franchise ever made and because there are plenty of people buying up every variation of the “Call of Duty” and “Modern Warfare” name.

The domain name callofdutymodernwarfare.com recently expired and was quickly scooped up by InTrust Domains on Thursday.

Domain: callofdutymodernwarfare.com

  Date Registered: 06/02/11
    Date Modified: 06/03/11
      Expiry Date: 06/02/12
                   DNS1: ns1.above.com
                   DNS2: ns2.above.com
  Registrant
                   InTrust Domains
                   Kenn Palm
                   11605 Meridian Market View                  
                   Falcon, CO (US)
                   80831
  Administrative Contact
                   InTrust Domains
                   Kenn Palm
                   11605 Meridian Market View                  
                   Falcon, CO (US)
                   80831

While Activision Publishing has never seemed all too interested in acquiring generic domains (bad news for owners of generics waiting for a big payday) or disputing domain names it missed out on (good news for squatters), it does own one of the best, callofduty.com. 

This week the company has been busy working on plans for its fall release of Call of Duty Elite, a premium online service for Call of Duty gamers. 

It’s also been registering domain names including callofduty-elite.org and callofduty-elite.net, according to DomainTools.

By the way, if you haven’t seen the Modern Warfare 3 trailer by The Onion — it has over 11 million views on YouTube.

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News Video Games

ModernWarfare3.com gets thousands of Facebook fans, growth continues. Site not affiliated with Call of Duty

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Attack on New York City

The owner of ModernWarfare3.com has gained thousands of fans on Facebook and is adding hundreds per day following the news that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be released this November. 

The domain name and website, which I have written about previously here and here, has been adding new features in the past few days including a newsletter for announcements, videos, pre-order links, and a forum that is under construction.

The website has the feel of an official Call of Duty site, that is, until you scroll the bottom and see the hard-to-read text that says: “The website ModernWarfare3.com is not associated, affiliated, endorsed or sponsored by the  creators or publishers of the game (we like them a lot though.)”.

With MW3 buzz all over the web, expect this site to get a lot of direct navigation (type-in) traffic.

If you haven’t see what all the buzz is about, here’s a look at the world premiere trailer.

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News Video Games

ModernWarfare3.com: Cashing in on the buzz of top-selling videogame franchise

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 concept art Sandman

Some companies just don’t get it when it comes to domain names.

Back in January I wrote about Activision missing out on Modern Warfare domain names.  Though the company does own ModernWarfare2.com, the company doesn’t own ModernWarfare.com and it missed out on a slew of other domain names early on. 

Not owning the exact match domain names hasn’t hurt sales, but it has certainly helped a few fans and domain owners cash in one way or another on the popularity of the first-person shooter game.   

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Buzz

This week information and dates were leaked on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to online gaming magazine, Kotaku.  Now, everyone is talking about Modern Warfare 3.  Though the buzz has been going on for several months, one might think Activision would buy the matching web address now that the cat is out of the bag.  Not likely.  

Even threats of killing a clown can’t change Activision’s mind as seen with ModernWarfare4.com – a controversy that made headlines. 

It doesn’t appear Activision has bothered registering any related domain names recently.  Besides, most have already been taken by other people- modernwarfarethree.com, codmodernwarfare3.com, callofdutymodernwarfare3.com and more, making it unlikely the company could find an easy-to-remember domain name specifically for Modern Warfare 3.

Then there’s callofdutymodernwarfare.com… 

The domain name is currently in a RedemptionPeriod status, meaning, the domain name expired, and the registry is waiting for 30 days as a precautionary measure before releasing it. 

But that doesn’t necessarily mean Activision will land the name.  You can bet hardcore Call of Duty fans are already eyeing it.  Since the beginning of May, several Modern Warfare domain names have been registered by individuals and organizations.  Here’s a sample: Call-of-Duty-Modern-Warfare-3.com, ModernWarfare3Fan.com, Modern-Warfare3.org, PlayModernWarfare3.com, NextModernWarfare.com, FreeCallofDutyModernWarfare3.com and ModernWarfarethree.com.

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News Trademarks Video Games

Activision misses out on Modern Warfare domain names, ModernWarfare4.com still hostage

Modern Warfare 3 Ghost

There’s a lot of buzz surrounding the next Call of Duty game title. 

It is being rumored that Activision will be releasing its next title in November 2011, and there are plenty of gaming blogs and news sites thinking it will be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, focused on a character named “Ghost” who appeared in Modern Warfare 2.

With all the buzz swirling around, I thought it would be interesting to see what memorable Modern Warfare domain names Activision owns.   

Surprisingly, what I found is that Activision doesn’t own many.

Modern Warfare

ModernWarfare.com isn’t owned by Activision.  The domain is registered to Goran Blagus and sits parked.  According to a rough estimate by Compete, the domain receives anywhere from several hundred to several thousand unique visitors per month.

On Friday, October 15, 2010, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed by Activision for MODERN WARFARE, as reported by Trademarkia.  

Modern Warfare 2

ModernWarfare2.com is actually owned by Activision – and it’s not surprisng that the company somehow got its hands on this name considering Modern Warfare 2 is one of the best-selling games of all-time.

Modern Warfare 3

Activision wasn’t so lucky with ModernWarfare3.com.  What could possibly be another record-breaking title, isn’t owned by the company.  A disclaimer at the bottom of the page reads, “Modern Warfare 3 .com is a 100% unofficial fan site dedicated to the Modern Warfare series.”

Modern Warfare 4

ModernWarfare4.com is one of the most interesting domain registrations by far.  It’s yet another domain not owned by Activision, but in this case, the owners made news headlines when they threatened to hurt a clown if the game development studio behind Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward, didn’t play ball with their demands.

A message at the top of the site reads:

Welcome to the ModernWarfare4.com Website. It would appear that Infinity Ward forgot to purchase this domain. No worries – We have good care of it.

There has been huge amounts of controversy about our actions. We won’t go into details here, (but to read part the story, click here, then google for any more..) – what we will say, is that the domain was purchased by the UK based gaming community ZiiP. We have been wondering what to do with it for a while now.. threatening to hurt this clown that you see unless IW played ball…

Sadly, it would seem IW don’t like clowns. They appear not to like PC Gamers either, as we were (like scores of others) extremely disappointed by there lack of dedicated server in the release of Modern Warfare 2.

We are not bad people. Therefore, we have decided to compromise on our previous demands of fast cars and cheap hookers in exchange for the domain. Instead, we would like IW to implement dedicated servers into MW2 for the good of the PC gaming community. We don’t want IW.net. It wasn’t asked for.

ModernWarfare5.com and ModernWarfare6.com are both registered at the time of this story.  

You won’t find any available domain registrations until you reach ModernWarfare7.com.  However, chances are good Activision won’t ever get to 5, 6, 7, or whatever – given that its Infinity Ward game studio is in shambles and it’s rumored that a futuristic Call of Duty could be the focus of its next series.

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News Video Games

As Call of Duty: Black Ops sets records, BuyDomains increases prices of Warfare domain names

space warfare

With Call of Duty Black Ops setting a record for Activision as the company’s best selling game, Warfare-related domain names owned by BuyDomains continue to increase in price. 

It’s a safe bet that Activision’s next installment for Call of Duty will take place in outerspace in a Halo-like environment. 

As I wrote about on my military gaming blog, Chris Morris, a writer with Gamasutra, first broke the news on Nov. 9 that Activision could be headed towards a future landscape (with space marines) for its next game title.   But that wasn’t a big surprise for many Call of Duty fans.  The Gamasutra story confirmed what many already thought about the possibility of a futuristic Call of Duty last May, after domains registered by Activision were uncovered by superannuation.  The registrations included names such as callofdutyfuturewarfare.com, callofdutyfuturewarfare2.com, callofdutyfuturewarfare3.com, and a number of variations including codfuturewarefare.com, codfuturewarfare2.com, and codfuturewarfare3.com.  The company also registered secretwarfare2.com and secretwarfare3.com, as well as spacewarfare2.com and spacewarfare3.com.

Prices of Warfare domains

As reported in early December, BuyDomains upped the price of SpaceWars.com from $50,000 to to $63,200.  As of today, the price tag now sits at six-figures: $102,000.

 spacewars.com

And Spacewars.com isn’t the only War domain that saw a price increase. 

In late November, FutureWarfare.com was listed for $3,788.  Now the buy-it-now price has risen to $6,000.  SpaceWarfare.com, another BuyDomains name and candidate for the next Call of Duty game installment, also leaped in price to $8,000.

Warfare Domains

Warfare domain names are generic in nature, so BuyDomains is doing what many of us might do by increasing the list price.

But amid all the hype of Call of Duty Black Ops, no one has acquired the names, not even Activision.

As demand for Call of Duty Black Ops remains strong, prices for warfare domains look to inch higher and higher, as speculation for the next Call of Duty title picks up in the news and blogs.  And BuyDomains owns one of the best lots.

Even I got caught up in warfare domains, hand registering airbornewarfare.com in November. 

Odd Warfare names, you may have heard of

Some of the oddest warfare names are “Flower Warfare” and “Cardboard Warfare”.  

And if you’ve heard of Freddie Wong, chances are you’ve heard of these phrases.  Freddie recently released his “Future First Person Shooter” video, which has already hit 7 million  views on YouTube in a week’s time.  Here’s a look at “Flower Warfare” in case you have never seen a freddiew film.