In what can only be described as a slap in the face to Infinity Ward and Activision, the people at DICE and EA have updated their blog with a post poking fun at the "Mapathy" campaign from a few days ago.  The second free map pack for Bad Company 2 will be available on March 30th on all platforms to those who have entered their VIP code in game and will include the following:

Arica Harbor Conquest mode - US Command launches a break through action directly at the Russian base. Collateral damage is of no consequence. Capture and secure tactical positions in Conquest Mode across the vast Arica Harbor map.

Laguna Presa Rush mode - The valley and surrounding mountains possess a strategic value in the battle for South America, and an infantry assault supported by light armor vehicles is likely by both armies as US forces defend the nearby Dam.

As for the negative marketing going on, I'll let you decide for yourself if there is some bad blood here or if it's just friendly competition:

It also plays a vital part in making sure you, the players get proper value for the money you’ve invested in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. This is why these map packs are available at no extra cost, contradicting the industry standard and what our direct competitors are doing. Of course, it also helps avoid segmenting the community, making sure everyone can play together having the same maps available. There will be future paid downloadable content as well but these packs will focus on expanding other parts of the game experience rather than the selection of maps available for the basic game modes. We’re dedicated to taking care of this product for a long time – helping you avoid “mapathy” without getting nickel-and-dimed.

Robert Bowling, FourZeroTwo, just tweeted a link to a teaser site, Mapathy. According to the site, which has logos for Modern Warfare 2, Xbox 360/Xbox Live, Activision and Infinity Ward Logos, the “cure” to Mapathy is coming to Xbox Live on March 30th, 2010. Mapathy is described simply as "a state of indifference to the same old maps one has been playing for the last several months." I’m pretty sure you can all put the pieces together yourself, but if not I’ll do it for you:

The first DLC for Modern Warfare 2 will be coming in 3 weeks on March 30th, 2010 which will include several new maps, details of which will be slowly revealed throughout the week. Remember, the first DLC pack for MW2 will be a timed Xbox 360 exclusive, sorry PS3/PC owners, no love for you yet.

FourZeroTwo [Twitter]

FourZeroTwo (Robert Bowling), the “Creative Strategist” at Infinity Ward, recently tweeted that Modern Warfare 2 has reached 25 million unique players online (all platforms combined). In the same tweet he also noted that there will be “a lot of #MW2 DLC details coming this week!” So the wait is finally over, we might finally get details about what is included in the DLC and when it might be released (and for how much, my guess is on $10).

In a slightly unrelated note, the Xbox 360 will also be receiving the Longitude/Latitude fix which will improve matchmaking for those outside of the continental US. You can also expect a double-XP weekend to popup sometime around the DLC release (making it easier to legitimately get to 10th prestige!)

FourZeroTwo [Twitter]

[Updated - Sledgehammer Games's  COD title is not the 2011 title mentioned in the press release. The 2011 COD title is referring to yet another title not mentioned in the release and the developer of that title is unknown. However if history suggests anything it could be the MW2 successor, developed by Infinity Ward. Via: G4TV]

After the events of last night, today’s press release only confirms what we were fearing: a new direction for the Call of Duty series. In the press release Activision also confirmed that Jason West and Vince Zampella are “no longer with Infinity Ward”. However, that was only a portion of news, with Activision looking to push the franchise into new territory with Sledgehammer Games developing an action-adventure game based on the Call of Duty franchise which will be released in 2011.

Taking the place of the former Infinity Ward heads are two senior Activision members, Steve Ackrich and Steve Pearce who will lead IW on an “interim” basis. There has been no word as to why the West or Zampella were removed from their positions, but we wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors. There was no indication of whether or not Infinity Ward would continue to work on the Call of Duty series.

You can catch all the juicy details after the break, including Activision’s view on DLC (hint: money maker):

Last night a mysterious story showed up on G4TV.com’s website detailing the disappearance of two studio heads after a “bunch of bouncer-types” showed up at the IW offices and wouldn’t disclose their appearance. Two studio heads had previously met with Activision that morning and weren’t seen since then, stirring up confusion and a tense atmosphere at IW.

This morning however we received more confirmation and details in a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) document which stated that “The Company is concluding an internal human resources inquiry into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward.” These two individuals are believed to be two of the studio founders, Vince Zampella and Jason West. Both have recently updated their social networking profiles to reflect their “unemployed” status, suggesting that they were fired by Activision.

We probably won’t hear any more details about this matter until it is all over with, since it will most likely be followed up by legal action. Either way, we wish the best of luck to West and Zampella who helped establish one of the greatest gaming franchises of the decade.

Security Appears at Infinity Ward [G4TV]

Boycotts be damned, the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 seems to be performing exceptional at retail, having outsold its predecessor in terms of first week sales. This is according to Infinity Ward community manager Robert “402″ Bowling, who wrote the following in a forum post on the developer’s official site:

Yes, PC is the smallest percentage in terms of how much sold on each platform but that hardly means anything other than the PC is just the smallest market.

The PC version of Modern Warfare 2 has actually outsold the PC version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in it’s first week. Making it the most successful PC version.

Essentially, all this percentage proves is that the console versions sold great, not that the PC version sold poorly, because that’s actually not the case. The PC version has done tremendous in it’s first week, better than our previous game.

Interesting. Infinity Ward received a lot of flack for not including dedicated servers and instead requiring players to use their custom matchmaking service IWnet. In the end, though, it seems the decision has done little to stunt sales. This is despite petitions in which hundreds of thousands of people claimed they were boycotting the game. It’s worrying news for those that despise a peer-to-peer routed approach for hosting online games. IW being successful means other developers may follow in their footsteps.

3% of overall sales [Infinity Ward]

Infinity Ward: MW2 Outsold CoD 4 On PC - [eXophase.com]

With an official count of 1.23 million units sold in the UK on launch day, Modern Warfare 2 is well on track to become this year’s biggest entertainment launch, just as publisher Activision said it would.

How is the proper sequel to 2007’s Infinity Ward-developed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare stacking up in terms of worldwide sales? While exact figures are still unknown, Broadpoint AmTech analyst Ben Schachter surmises that 7 million copies went into the hands of gamers worldwide on day one.

It’s a lofty prediction, but very possible, taking the buzz surrounding this launch into consideration. If true, it’d mean that MW2 nearly doubled the units GTA IV sold on its first day. Quite an impressive feat.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Sold an Estimated 7 Million Copies Day One, says Analyst [GameDaily]

Analyst: Modern Warfare 2 Sold 7 Million On Day One - [eXophase.com]

Developer Infinity Ward has revealed a campaign-based co-op mode for Modern Warfare 2 was originally planned, but was later dropped once discovering that it “ruined the experience” after extensive playtesting. That scrapped mode was later reborn as Spec Ops, a mission based co-op component comprised of levels that IW felt were more tailored towards cooperative rather than solo play.

Speaking to VG247, Infinity Ward community manager Rob Bowling explains:

We did it early on; that’s what Spec Ops started out as, as co-op through story.

But it really broke the cinematic experience, took the immersion out of it, out of the story and the pacing and everything we’d spent so long crafting. It just ruined the experience we were aiming for, so we took it out, kept the single-player for that one player intact and polished it.

Bowling further mentioned that some of the experiences in Spec Ops mode have been taken straight out of single player, but polished for co-op play. Sounds like we’ll be getting the best of both worlds.

Modern Warfare 2 is scheduled to hit November 10.

No Campaign Co-Op In MW2, Infinity Ward Explains Why - [eXophase.com]

In what we can only call shocking, Infinity Ward head Vince Zampella revealed to the Official PlayStation Magazine that publisher Activision was originally opposed to the idea of moving the Call of Duty outside World War II. For its part, the mighty Acti thought such a move was a huge creative risk at the time, going by internal marketing research, and instead wanted to play it safe by taking the rehash route and churn out more of the same.

In what we can only call shocking, Infinity Ward head Vince Zampella revealed to the Official PlayStation Magazine that publisher Activision was originally opposed to the idea of moving the Call of Duty outside World War II. For its part, the mighty Acti thought such a move was a huge risk at the time, going by internal marketing research, and instead wanted to play it safe by taking the rehash route and churn out more of the same.

Wow. It goes without saying, sometimes risks pay off big, and this is undeniable proof. Good thing Infinity Ward stuck to its guns.

Activision “didn’t want Modern Warfare” [CVG]

Activision Was Opposed To Taking Call of Duty Outside World War II - [eXophase.com]

There’s been a fair bit of uncertainty spreading over the fact if Modern Warfare 2 will receive a public beta or not. The long and short of it is “no,” but Infinity Ward figurehead Robert Bowling isn’t ruling one out just yet. Currently an internal beta is in testing and if on the slim chance that things still need tweaking, a public beta would be considered.

Once the internal beta is completed, if for any reason we feel we didn’t receive the feedback, address the issues, or have the result we expect. We would consider pushing forward with a public one, however at this point only an internal Closed Beta is planned.

All things considered, it doesn’t seem likely that we’ll see a public beta, especially since IW is essentially expanding upon the proven multiplayer codebase in MW1. Bugs will be few and far between, we reckon. Still, the possibility remains, however minute it may be.

Bowling Lays The Smackdown On Modern Warfare 2 Beta Rumors - [eXophase.com]