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Modern Warfare 3 Prestige Levels 16 to 20 Added to PC, Soon for PS3 and Xbox 360

Yesterday, Modern Warfare 3 players on PC were treated to a long-overdue DLC bundle, Collection 1. The DLC brought along a patch that added community playlists among other changes. The patch notes haven’t been made public at the time of writing. However, one obvious change is the addition of prestige levels 16 through 20.

A few months ago, Infinity Ward added prestige levels 11-15 to the PC version of Modern Warfare 3 along with prestige emblems for levels 16 to 20, which lead us to believe that another 5 prestige levels were on the cards. PS3 and Xbox 360 received the first extra 400 ranks within a few weeks after PC.

Currently, the highest prestige level on consoles is 15. Now that another five prestige levels were added to PC, we expect consoles to follow suit soon as it was the case with prestige levels 11 to 15.

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MW3 Collection 2 Announced, Face Off Game Mode, Two Free Maps to All, Upcoming Elite Drops, and More

The team behind Modern Warfare 3 has detailed DLC plans for this month on Xbox 360. In addition to two new spec ops missions and one multiplayer map, a new mode has been revealed. The new mode is called “Face Off,” and is a one-on-one or two-on-two deathmatch mode that ca only be played on specific maps coming this month.

There are four maps designed for Face Off. The first two are Aground and Erosion, which will be available to everyone on Xbox 360 for free on May 15th, other platforms will follow later.

Another two Face Off maps, Getaway and Erosion, will release on the 15th for Elite. Also, Elite players will be able to download a brand new multiplayer map set in Dubai, titled Oasis. On that day, Elite players will also get two new spec ops missions, Iron Clad and Killswitch.

Collection 2, which releases on May 22 for Xbox 360, will pack in:

- Three multiplayer maps: Oasis, Sanctuary, and Foundation
- Two spec ops missions: Iron Clad and Killswitch
- Two Face Off Maps: Getaway and Lookout

Speaking to Eurogamer, Modern Warfare 3 executive producer Mark Rubin shed some light on why Face Off will be introduced. He explained, “Normally in itself one-on-one isn’t particularly creatively innovative, but what we’ve done is design the maps deliberately for this style of play. In normal map development you have large maps that have long sight lines, then when you make smaller maps you shorten the sight line – the engagement distance becomes smaller when the map becomes smaller.”"But with these Face-Off maps, because it’s not six-on-six, we’ve made the sight lines longer for the size of the map that it is. You actually end up engaging quicker and having a more exciting experience on the map. You still get a really new feel and experience out of the gameplay; not just the heavy, frantic experience you would get out of a normal multiplayer match. You get more tension build-up on these smaller maps,” he concluded.

Here’s the breakdown video from IGN:



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MW3 Players Logged Over 1.6 Billion Hours Online, Call of Duty Has 40 Million MAUs

Activision Blizzard has released its financial results for Q1 FY12, revealing the latest Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 and Elite figures.

Here are the highlights related to the Call of Duty franchise:

- As of March 31, 2012, the Call of Duty franchise had approximately 40 million monthly active users.*

- Players have logged more than 1.6 billion hours of online gameplay of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3  through March 31, 2012.

- As of April 30, 2012, more than 10 million gamers have registered for Call of Duty Elite, including more than two million premium annual memberships the company has sold for the online service.**

- For the first quarter, Activision Blizzard had two top-10 PC titles in North America and Europe with Activision Publishing’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Blizzard Entertainment’s  StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.

Activision’s CEO Bobby Kotick stated, “Through March 31, players have logged more than 1.6 billion hours of online gameplay of Activision Publishing’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.” He added, “Additionally, Activision Publishing’s Call of Duty Elite service continues to grow and currently has more than 10 million registered users including more than two million annual premium members, an increase of approximately 33% from January 31, 2012.”

He continued, ”On May 15 Blizzard Entertainment will release the highly anticipated Diablo III and we are proud to report that pre-orders for the game worldwide have set a new record for Blizzard. For the remainder of 2012 and beyond, our product pipeline includes some of the most innovative games we have ever developed for our established franchises, including Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm and all new MMORPG game, as well as Activision Publishing’s Skylander’s Giants, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and a new universe from Bungie.”

*The number of active monthly users in December, 2011 was also 40 million. Click here for the breakdown by title for that month. MAUs stands for monthly active users.

**Elite has grown by 3 million registered members and 500,000 premium members compared to December’s figures.

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Official Modern Warfare 3 May DLC Screenshots and Artwork – Erosion, Aground, Oasis, and More

Yesterday, Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games announced DLC plans for Xbox 360 releasing this month. The studios detailed a new mutliplayer game mode that will only be available on custom maps, some of which will be free to all Modern Warfare 3 players.

Onto the official artwork and description of the new maps and missions as posted on the Calendar. Click on the images below for full size.

Free to Public: Erosion - Face Off Map

Make your way through Mediterranean ruins and ancient aqueducts, using leftover Roman masonry for thousand-year-old cover in this new “Face Off” map.



Free to Public: Aground - Face Off Map

Head to Scotland’s Orkney Islands for the latest “Face Off” map, where treacherous cliff faces, networks of caves and the rusted and ruined remains of a grounded transport ship provide for constant combat.



Multiplayer Map: Oasis – Elite Drop 9, Part of Collection 2

Though once a picturesque escape for vacationers, the sprawling Hotel Oasis is now a Multiplayer paradise, with multiple lanes of combat built atop an ancient fortress.



Spec Ops Mission:  Kill Switch – Elite Drop 10, Part of Collection 2

Armed with an Electromagnetic Pulse, your sniper team must neutralize a Russian carrier in this Special Ops Mission where only a bird’s eye view can keep your team in command as you breach the ship from underwater.



Spec Ops Mission:  Iron Clad – Elite Drop 11, Part of Collection 2

With one player helming a tank and the other escorting it on foot, you’ll clear beaches and take cover in plane wreckage as you escape Hamburg from behind enemy lines in this all-new Special Ops Mission.





The first “Face Off” map in Modern Warfare® franchise history, what once was a tropical beach getaway boasting exotic aquariums and oversized pools is now a haven for ruthless run-and-gun violence.



Paid Face Off Map: Lookout - Elite Drop 12

Carved into a combat-weary mountainside, this new “Face Off” map pits you against your opposition in a forward observation base littered in chokepoints and tight corridors.



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MW3 Elite Maps Sanctuary and Foundation, Patch 1.13 Now Live on PS3

The latest two Modern warfare 3 Elite maps, Sanctuary and Foundation, have become available to download on the PlayStation 3. The PS3 version of the game also received patch 1.13 yesterday.

While the official patch notes haven’t been released, MP1st reader Gav pointed out that the patch included a Sit Rep/Dead Silence functionality fix. Sit Rep now counters Dead Silence when both are being used in the Specialist strike package.

Sanctuary and Foundation can now be downloaded through the in-game store, and weigh in at 91MB and 113MB, respectively. As expected, Collection 1 playlists were reverted back to Elite playlists, which are only accessible to premium members and feature all six maps released thus far.

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