Activision Lops Off Modern Warfare 2 Studio Heads

By Nick Mokey March 2, 2010

When your game sells half a billion dollars’ worth of copies in five days, you might consider your job safe. But as the saying goes, “things are tough all over,” and apparently, even the rock stars of video gaming can’t rest on their laurels these days. On Monday, Activision axed both the president and CEO of developer Infinity Ward, the studio responsible for the 2009 blockbuster Modern Warfare 2.

G4 TV first dropped the story with a handful of unconfirmed details from an anonymous source, while the Facebook profiles of both president Jason West and CEO Vince Zampella later corroborated their respective firings. (“Jason West is drinking. Also, unemployed,” West’s profile status said.)

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Details as to what actually transpired remain sparse, but a recent SEC filing from the same day notes that “The Company is concluding an internal human resources inquiry into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward. This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation.”

Speculation remains rampant as to “breaches of contract and insubordination” West and Zampella were actually canned for, but the promise of “upcoming litigation” likely means we’ll know the details when legal papers fly.

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Gaming

Is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 cross-platform?

Silhouette of a soldier standing in front of a plane crash.

It's time to grab your gear, reload your weapons, and get your squad ready for the final act in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. This entry takes the multiplayer mode the series has built itself on to the next level, with the traditional multiplayer suite, zombies, and integration with Warzone 2.0. This is one of the biggest events of the year for many players, and you will probably be organizing your friends and family to all jump in and play together. But is that possible in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3? Cross-platform support isn't quite as ubiquitous as we hope yet, so let's breach this topic and extract the intel.
Does Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 have cross-platform support?

Yes, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has full cross-platform support. This means that you can squad up with players on any console -- PlayStation, Xbox, or PC -- and enter the battlefield together. This is true for any online mode in the game.

Gaming

The best perks in Modern Warfare 3

Soliders take cover behind a riot shield in a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 promo image.

If there's one thing besides your gun that you need to ensure is customized just perfectly in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, it's definitely the layout of your perks. You get to choose one perk from each of the four categories, and you'll want to be sure they match ideally with your playstyle. As such, your perfect perk selections will ultimately come down to personal taste, but we've compiled a list of the two best perks from each category that we feel will be useful on the widest variety of loadouts. Read on to see what we've chosen as the best perks in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Best vest perks
The best perk for your vest slot depends a lot on your playstyle. If you find that you're a run-and-gun type, you may prefer the Gunner Vest since it spawns you with the maximum amount of ammo while also providing faster reload speed for every gun. That being said, the Engineer Vest can be invaluable for those who want to take things slow because it shows you killstreaks and field equipment through walls, which can save your life by letting you know exactly what to expect in the next room and letting you plan accordingly.
Best gloves perks
The best perk for your gloves slot is generally going to be the Scavenger Gloves due to them allowing you to restock ammo off of fallen players, keeping you in the fight longer if you can manage to keep dropping your foes. However, you may prefer the faster weapon swapping that comes with the Quick-Grip Gloves in certain cases, particularly if you find that you're frequently swapping to your sidearm to finish off your enemies.
Best boots perks
The best perk for your boots slot is either the Lightweight Boots or Covert Sneakers. The former grants you noticeably faster movement speed both on land and in water, while the former completely reduces your footstep audio to make you significantly sneakier as you run around the map looking for your next kill. If you're a guns-blazing kind of player, Lightweight may actually work best at letting you rapidly approach other players, but being able to slink around with Covert Sneakers is definitely unmatched for those taking things a little slower.
Best gear perks
The best perk for your gear slot is probably Mission Control Commlink, as it reduces the number of kills required to earn killstreaks, which will in turn provide you with even more options in combat. However, don't sleep on Ghost T/V Camo either, as this will stop you from showing up on your opponents' radar while you're moving, making their UAVs and Heartbeat Sensors useless when it comes to you.

Gaming

How to rank up fast in Modern Warfare 3: best ways to farm XP

A soldier with a shotgun in Modern Warfare 3.

Every year when the new Call of Duty title drops, the playing field is once again reset as everyone needs to start grinding back up the ranks. Fully embracing the RPG elements, Modern Warfare 3 once again allows you to earn XP as you play match after match to rank up your character, with each rank not only bringing you closer to hitting prestige but also unlocking new options for your chosen operator. Your player rank is unique from your weapon levels and can take a lot longer to grind if you don't know the most efficient methods. If you want to fast-track your career through the ranks, here are the fastest ways to earn XP in Modern Warfare 3.
How to earn XP fast in Modern Warfare 3
There's basically no way you can play Modern Warfare 3 without earning XP, but some modes and methods can earn you double (or more) what you could if you were just playing without a plan.
Play the objective

We all love playing team deathmatch or any other mode where all you need to worry about is being the one to shoot first. However, if you want to earn that sweet XP fast, you need to choose one of the objective modes like Domination, Hardpoint, Ground War, or even Kill Confirmed. Not only do you get XP for killing enemies, but the amount you get on top of that for playing the objective can make up the bulk of your XP gain. This is especially true if you're not at the top of your game and end up dying more than you kill since you have another method to contribute. Also, objective modes grant you an XP bonus just for finishing the match.
Always work towards daily and weapon challenges