Fresh from the release of "Call of Duty: Black Ops 3," which has just been launched yesterday, Nov. 6, the hit game has announced another exciting news for its followers. The game will be turned into a series of movies and television shows, according to a report by Mashable.
Activision Blizzard has announced the launch of "Activision Blizzard Studios," which will create and develop film and TV projects based on the company's franchises. Production is on-going for its first outing, "Skylanders Academy," an animated TV series based on the game of the same name. Actors Justin Long and Ashley Tisdale are on board to provide voices for the lead characters.
For its next feature, Activision Blizzard is eyeing another of its hit games, the "Call of Duty" series. The franchise, which has earned over $1 billion, is known for its wide and diverse plots, set on different timelines. Currently, there are three distinct timelines -- from World War II to the Vietnam War, and futuristic combat scenarios. These settings exist within one "Call of Duty" universe, similar to comic books such as Marvel's. The company is hoping for a transition into movies, much like what Marvel has successfully done with its comic book characters.
For Nick van Dyk, co-president of Activision Blizzard Studios, the possible cinematic universe of "Call of Duty" could even be bigger than that of Marvel's.
"The Call of Duty IP is much greater than the core IP of Marvel," van Dyk told Fortune. "Our players spent 14 billion hours last year of playing and viewing our content. To put that in perspective, that's more time spent watching every movie released last year in every movie theater in the world. That's why we're pretty excited to address this demand."
Van Dyk further explained that a gamer can spend over a thousand hours a year playing the game, in contrast to two hours worth of time spent reading a Spider-Man comic book.
"Comic books are a nearly $1 billion industry, which is dwarfed by the revenues the games business brings in. Movie studios plan theatrical releases so they don't coincide with big game releases like 'Call of Duty,'" he added.
It seems that the video gaming industry is gearing towards Hollywood. Coincidentally, Ubisoft, the maker of hit games such as "Assassin's Creed" and "Just Dance," has first launched its Ubisoft Films in 2011 and is set to release the "Assassin's Creed" movie in 2016.
For Activation Blizzard, with its slew of chart-topping games including "Diablo" and "World of Warcraft," following Ubisoft's footsteps is but a natural course.
Plans for "Call of Duty" include movies and TV series. While there is no word as to what its official plot will be, Activation Blizzard is looking into a 2017/2018 release.
