Activision confirms Bond movie tie-in, new COD, two Guitar Heroes

Publisher lays out slate of new games, including Kung Fu Panda, new Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, new Spider-Man, and a "re-engineered" Tony Hawk.

Yesterday, champagne corks were undoubtedly popping over at Activision's offices as the company released record-breaking financial results and declared fiscal 2008 to be its best year ever.

In an earnings conference call after the release was distributed, Activision Publishing CEO Mark Griffiths laid out the slate of new games that gamers can expect in the company's fiscal year 2009 (starting April 1, 2008). He said, "There will be a full slate driven by our strongest brands."

New titles will be coming in the Guitar Hero and Call of Duty franchises, along with additional downloadable content for the current titles Guitar Hero III and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Plenty of movie tie-ins are also on the way, including Activision's first James Bond game, to tie in with the upcoming movie The Quantum of Solace. Kung Fu Panda, a new animated movie featuring voice acting from Angelina Jolie and Jack Black, will also be getting the video game treatment, with games across six platforms being simultaneously released alongside the movie. Games for Madagascar 2 and Monsters vs Aliens are also in the lineup.

Although there was no word on whether the next Call of Duty would be once again set in the modern day or taking the game back to its roots, Activision did confirm that a new sequel in the franchise was coming, and that it would also be coming to the PlayStation 2 and the Wii this time round. Fiscal 2009 will also see the company's "largest Nintendo slate ever," although details were kept under wraps.

Two new Guitar Hero games were confirmed for the period between April 1 and June 30, 2008, although the company was cagey about discussing details. Griffiths said the games would be, "across a broadening platform base, new headline rock bands, new hardware innovations, and deeper international growth."

Activision stated that work was under way on the next Tony Hawk skateboarding game, including research and testing, and that the company would be "re-engineering the franchise...there will be a new direction for the brand."

Two new superhero games are in the works: a new Spider-Man title and a sequel for Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

As to business strategy, Activision will be looking to expand its market in Europe in the next year, and one of the benefits of the merger between it and Vivendi would also be the opportunity to expand into Asian markets such as Korea and China.

482 Comments

  • allotheabove123

    Posted Oct 21, 2008 4:56 pm PT

    I DONT KARE how many call of duty games they make they are all good (i misspelled care on purpose)

  • megamaster32

    Posted Jul 28, 2008 6:17 pm PT

    I dont know the ultimate alliance the others sound okay

  • burstlimit514

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 11:15 pm PT

    an ultimate alliance 2? i dont know i got the last one on ps2 and it was O.K. I AM getting the James Bond cuz i loved the From Russia With Love.

  • Harville

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 3:56 pm PT

    Ultimate Alliance 2 is going to be awesome. You'll have to defeat the Devourer of Worlds, Galactus!!!

  • thesand212

    Posted Jul 4, 2008 7:46 pm PT

    New marvel ultimate alliance and spider-man

  • gunitman12345

    Posted Jun 16, 2008 7:16 am PT

    Can't wait for world at war and james bond

  • blueguykisame

    Posted Jun 10, 2008 2:06 pm PT

    cant wait for marvel: ultimate alliance 2 or spiderman: web of shadows; they both look grate [since they arent movie games they may just be fantastic!

  • wiiwillstand

    Posted Jun 1, 2008 7:35 am PT

    Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2! Alright!

  • ps3thabest

    Posted May 15, 2008 2:04 pm PT

    @Serious i agree marvel Ultimate Alliance for the PS3 was great x box 360 got the hulk and magneto and venom and we get dare devil and silver surfer

  • tyzwain

    Posted Mar 5, 2008 7:32 am PT

    COD4 downloadable content will be great...the maps are getting kinda boring lol

  • BigDogZoo

    Posted Feb 27, 2008 5:33 pm PT

    It would be really stupid for Call of Duty to go back to WW2.

  • Serious

    Posted Feb 27, 2008 3:21 am PT

    I loved Marvel Ultimate Alliance for the PS3. I was disappointed that the Xbox version got additional content. but with a sequel in the works. The PS3 version will probably have all of the extra content that xbox version did for the regular price. I'm just not into Guitar hero its all Rock music and will I like some of the tracks I just don't know the majority of them. Maybe if they were made for other genres of music. I agree that Tony Hawk has run its course. Call of Duty was so fantastic this year that I'm so going to order the next release it goes without saying.

  • spartan876

    Posted Feb 22, 2008 9:29 pm PT

    Pretty great. dont care about bond thing too much tho.

  • RightFright

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 7:37 pm PT

    dont care much about the bond thing but 2 new guitar heros and marval utimate alliance 2 (which i got half acheivements on it) and a new CoD5,and still dont care about new tony hawk game im tired of those they made like 25 of those games.

  • bombfanatic

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 2:32 pm PT

    most movie games suk, maybe activision can make a decent movie game. they will never make COD5 better than the 4th 1. good luk activision

  • theaudience

    Posted Feb 14, 2008 4:45 pm PT

    movie based bond game: hasn't worked since goldeneye
    animated movie based game: has never worked
    THPS: completely worn out and done. quit digging your grave even deeper.
    guitar hero: quickly going down hill in my opinion with neversofts take over
    cod5: meh, will be hard to top cod4
    new spider man and ultimate alliance titles: BORINNNG, show us something new that hasnt been mediocre in the past.

    sounds like a super rad lineup to come from activision.

  • Franzkill

    Posted Feb 14, 2008 3:04 pm PT

    Why don't Activision be bold and say ''Yeah we made TH suck last year and skate completely pwned us''. Because well and truly skate IS the new TH as far as I'm concerned especially when it comes to challenge, presentation and innovation.

    So yeah they sure as heck better head the series in a new direction because I'm downrigt sick of the same old being releeased. Don't know about you guys...

  • j-a-c-e

    Posted Feb 14, 2008 7:52 am PT

    two new guitar heroes by june? hell yeah.

  • tubeu

    Posted Feb 13, 2008 9:56 pm PT

    I am waiting for vehicle-using funny clips of COD5 on you tube.The same type clips of COD:UO were awesome

  • 2x4b96123

    Posted Feb 12, 2008 11:50 pm PT

    if Grey Matter are doing CoD5 i'll still buy it cus United Offensive was AWESOME

  • 2x4b96123

    Posted Feb 12, 2008 11:50 pm PT

    if Grey Matter are doing CoD5 i'll still buy it cus United Offensive was AWESOME

  • SasukevsLuffy

    Posted Feb 12, 2008 8:53 pm PT

    yes MUA2
    also call of duty yesss
    and new bond yess
    yessssssssssss

  • KingEd007

    Posted Feb 12, 2008 6:18 pm PT

    yes bond is back!

  • ronniepage588

    Posted Feb 12, 2008 2:49 pm PT

    LAME----- Tony Hawk is going to try to be a realistic simulation like "Skate" now. LAME LAME LAME. These guys are finished. Tony Hawk should remane the arcade style skating game. their best bet is to be the "Blitz" of skateboarding and let EA remain the Madden of skateboarding (in terms of style gameplay not sales)----why does it say my comment was posted december 31, 1969"!?!?!?!?!

  • freerunner01

    Posted Feb 12, 2008 6:54 am PT

    Warghost2k, as much as I would love that,i am guessing the legal implications of royalty fees in addition to microsoft wanting to cash in will make pickin your own songs for the consoles impossible...

  • Warghost2k

    Posted Feb 12, 2008 4:37 am PT

    Regarding the new Guitar Hero games, this is bad news. Many fans of the games were expecting more songs. And I'm not referring to the new downloadable content they are promising. How about an add-on that will allow importing our own music? I don't want new songs from sub-par new bands. The last thing I want is some Limp Bizkit or Korn songs. I want more Megadeth, Slayer, and Metallica (although the support for classic Metallica has been nice). Bottom line: Hold off on making a new GH game, and give us a way to pick our own songs and load them into the game!

  • AdeTheTerrible

    Posted Feb 12, 2008 2:49 am PT

    "See, see any other developer/publisher would always be making better equivalent games than EA! Activision is going to strike back with a huge vengeance!!!"

    For the last 9 years that they've been making Tony Hawk games, they've promised to vastly improve each installment. As a skateboarder, I thought the first 3 games were really good, i really enjoyed them. i even enjoyed THPS4 to some extent, but even then the formula was getting stale. Since THUG, the franchise has NOT changed in the slightest. They've added new features and promised to "reinvent" the franchise, but all they ever do is add some new crazy feature that is unrealistic and pointless, fill the game with EASY goals and put in a stupid storyline that is pretty much written for kids with no idea what real skateboarding is. Don't take this as all negative commentary - The Tony Hawk games are fun for a couple of hours but in terms of the type of skateboarding game that we SHOULD be playing in 2008, well, i have to give props to skate.

  • ObiKKa

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 11:47 pm PT

    Good, good on you, Activision, for making James Bond games. EA just could never make fun, challenging games! Though I hope the 007 movie tie-in game is better than Spider-Man 3's efforts.

    "Games for Madagascar 2 and Monsters vs Aliens are also in the lineup."
    Man, man, what is (a part of) Hollywood coming to? The AvP franchise was an excellent idea (though probably only due to a GAME DEVELOPER's idea to make AvP & AvP 2!

    "Activision stated that work was under way on the next Tony Hawk skateboarding game, including research and testing, and that the company would be "re-engineering the franchise...there will be a new direction for the brand.""

    See, see any other developer/publisher would always be making better equivalent games than EA! Activision is going to strike back with a huge vengeance!!!

  • VenomRitual

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 6:07 pm PT

    lol quantam of solace. wow. title of the year!

  • link631

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 6:02 pm PT

    cool

  • alberto2045

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 5:57 pm PT

    COD5? hmm thats goign to be awsome and so is the new update that they are coming out with!

  • bullsfan769

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 1:45 pm PT

    haha wow COD 5 and not COD 4 for ps2 and wii? it should be the other way around

  • Webswinger-93

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 1:41 pm PT

    GohanSSJZ: "How about if they said "drop and give me 200" instead?"

    That would be kinda fun. Then you'd feel like a real soldier. And are 2 Guitar Hero games coming between April and June? ^o)

  • GohanSSJZ

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 12:25 pm PT

    Spiderman 3 was ok imo, i've enjoyed the 15 or so hours that i've played it, yes it could have been improved, but imo it was atleast a fun game.

    Anyway if they can improve on what they got now, then they should be able to make a pretty good game.

  • sidious

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 12:00 pm PT

    I agree that if Infinity Ward isn't doing the next CoD game, I won't be as excited for it. I did read an interview with an Infinity Ward guy where he said they (IW) was already doing some work on CoD5... but that being said, the game coming out next, if it by Treyarch or any other developer than IW, it could be an un numbered game (like Call of Duty The Big Red One for example), instead of being called Call of Duty 5. Who knows. At least we are getting downloadable content for CoD4.

    I'm also excited for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. That is awesome. I hope the new Spider-Man game fares better than Spider-Man 3 and Spider-Man Friend or Foe. Both games were lack luster to say the least.

  • GohanSSJZ

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 11:55 am PT

    "it would be quite cool if they somehow used the Wii fit board. Like to change your visual perspective you can tilt o the right or left. Then again forget it, its not like the typical gamer would bother."

    How about if they said "drop and give me 200" instead?

    Anyway glad a sequel is coming to Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

  • rolento88

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 9:50 am PT

    Finally a sequel to Marvel...

  • dstryr13

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 9:00 am PT

    @NinjaMunkey

    Treyarch made CoD3, Activision has PUBLISHED all of them
    the only CoD that will be better than CoD4 is the next one that Infinity Ward makes

  • ChickenHounk911

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 8:56 am PT

    I tried to calculate how much money I am going to give this company this year......**weeps**

  • lamplan

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 8:14 am PT

    LOL Miss the point anyone? Instead of Customizable generous amounts of DLC like some games do... They would rather release 2... TWO GAMEs of Guitar hero.

    I smell a rip off.

  • razu_gamer

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 8:02 am PT

    COD5 fir Wii?!?!? OMG...

    It would be quite cool if they somehow used the Wii fit board. Like to change your visual perspective you can tilt o the right or left. Then again forget it, its not like the typical gamer would bother.

  • snakes2solid

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 7:58 am PT

    Bond is still sweet!!!!!!!!!!!

  • NinjaMunkey01

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 7:42 am PT

    doubt the new one will be better than cod4, infinity ward makes the good cod games. activision were the people who made cod 3.

  • TallicaFan2005

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 7:24 am PT

    Sweet....I don't know whether a new Guitar Hero can pry me away from my drum sticks in Rock Band though...... We'll see.

  • MavHZero

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 6:49 am PT

    In terms of Business strategy, Activision certainly have the potential to bring games that rocked the states and europe to Asian audiences, which considering how well they did over here, may mean success over there too. However, they're also into different games, so FPS games such as CoD4 may not translate as well over there as it did over here.

    Having said this, the Tony Hawk franchise needs to come up with something, and something huge. Skate did so much to revolutionise the concept of skateboarding in games. This is the last chance for TH in my eyes, as if it flops again, they'll scrap it. Personally, I think they should forego the next generation entirely and bring something to the Wii using the Wii Balance Board.

    New Spiderman/Marvel games will do well with fans of the franchises in question/game style, so nothing much to say about that. Since everyone pretty much has a Wii Zapper, they could take a leaf out of Link's Crossbow training's moving shooty stages for CoD, so that could prove interesting. A new PS2 one seems out of place to me.

    Guitar Hero's "new hardware innovations" seems like its either coming to the DS, or they're doing a Rock Band on us. While I love the GHIII 360 controller, we don't need another Rock Band as such. Also splitting it into Drum/Sing Hero is a ludicrous idea. If they have to do a GH4, at least bring back what made GH1&2 great. Clive Winston
    (Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation would agree with that last statement)

    I close in saying Movie franchises will always sell, no matter how bad the games are, so all in all, if they don't mess up their bigger franchises and develop some new ones in time, Activision is up for something special this fiascal year.

  • oshaun123

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 4:33 am PT

    sounds like its going to be a very good year for activision, cant wait 2 see what they got in store for guitar hero and call of duty 4

  • wanderingblade

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 3:54 am PT

    Awesome this is gonna be a good year.

  • dual_barrel

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 3:28 am PT

    wonder what would happen if the games suck one after the other

  • XanderKage

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 3:07 am PT

    New Call of Duty!! Awesome! MUA sequel is also cool!

  • diegoasms

    Posted Feb 11, 2008 2:30 am PT

    Two Guitar Hero, James Bond Game and sequel Marvel Ultimate Alliance, awesome, fantastic.

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