March 9, 2010 – Infinity Ward has finally put a date on the first Modern Warfare 2 map pack. Those anxious for an expansion to Modern Warfare 2 will only have to wait until March 30th…if you have the XBOX 360 version of the latest Call of Duty instalment.

As announced at last year’s E3 trade show, the downloadable content will come to XBOX Live first. The announcement of the release date was given through the cleverly named mapathy.com, which gives no indication as to when the maps will be coming to the PS3 or how much this download will cost.

IGN made no mention of the PC version. So either they forgot that there is a PC version, or (paid?) DLC won’t be coming to the PC. I truly can’t pick which one is more likely.

How much will this DLC cost? $10? $20? Free?

Source: http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/107/1076111p1.html

But rest assured, they are working now! And with all of the protection put in place by IW, you would think that they are quite complicated. Nope. In fact, the process is just copy and pasting files from the internet into your .iwd files. This takes a grand total of 2 minutes. And as we all know by know, texture hacks are not bannable.

This texture hack is simple. One team is blue, the other team is red. Snipers are gold with a secondary color that matches their team.

Here are some images of the texture hacks in question:

Friendlies:

Sniper:

These pictures show the clear advantage these hacks give you, especially on hardcore modes.

Enemy in the distance, blending into the foliage:

Sniper laying down in grass:

So if you are playing MW2 and notice someone being able to see you across the map, then he is likely using a texture hack. Now we have to wait and see how IW “patches” these.

…annnd we JUST hit 25 MILLION unique players on Modern Warfare 2. Insanity! Also, got a lot of #MW2 DLC details coming this week! FINALLY!
(http://twitter.com/fourzerotwo/status/10185240985)

Insanity? Yes, it’s insanity how many people actually play the game, they must be insane themselves

So are we to interpret that Activision will still be going ahead with the DLC pack despite a current lawsuit implying that they legally don’t have the right to?

@decimalator That’s 25 million unique across all platforms. Most on Xbox 360, then a close 2nd goes to PS3, will millions more on PC.
(http://twitter.com/fourzerotwo/status/10185360222)

So 23 million on XBOX, 2 Million on PS3 and 1 Million on PC? lol

@Arcxm We can only track those who connect to online, so this is online only! Also, you’re correct, this is dominating COD4’s numbers!
(http://twitter.com/fourzerotwo/status/10185573397)

Could we see the un-rigged figures please?

Game fans were eagerly awaiting on news about the DLC (rumoured for release in April) prior to the IW/Activision issue.

Due to the current lawsuit between Jason West and Vince Zampella (IW) against Activision; we may not see a DLC for some time. If West’s and Zampella’s statement within their lawsuit, over retaining creative control, is legally standing any DLC release could be deemed a breach by Activision under their contractual obligations and put them in even deeper water.

On March 1st 2010 Jason West and Vince Zampella left Infinity Ward due to being dismissed by Activision (if you’re not up to speed then read our blog posts over the last week).

Now rumours are circulating due to the lack of Robert Bowling’s (aka 402) presence. Robert is best known as Infinity Ward’s Creative Strategist (or Community Manager prior to the title change).

At this time Robert’s LinkedIn profile (http://www.linkedin.com/in/fourzerotwo) still shows him working at Infinity Ward, but neither his website (http://www.fourzerotwo.com/) or Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/fourzerotwo) have had any update to them since March 1st 2010 (the day West and Zampella were dismissed).

@Activision

I would just like to send a big “fuck you” to @Activision…from the Infinity Ward fan base…
(http://twitter.com/ZS_v2/statuses/10096111866)

@TrogdorForHire @ElektraFi Please forgive me! Don’t interrogate my employees & withhold my royalties, oh wait, that’s @activision
(http://twitter.com/ClaireJeepChick/statuses/10049542069)

My loyalty is to @infinityward not @activision, if they’re not developing another CoD I won’t be buying it. #ScrewKotick #MW2
(http://twitter.com/andybeans/statuses/10020184000)

Can I just say a rather larger fuck you to @activision for shafting the two former heads of Infinity Ward.
(http://twitter.com/dj_jenns/statuses/10019692413)

Hey @activision, FUCK YOU! You guys are a bunch of assholes. I’ll never buy another title from you. You don’t treat developers like that!
(http://twitter.com/yummybacon/statuses/10004838534)

blazyn_bxtch haha @Activision – #epicfail – hope you get your asses handed to you in court
(http://twitter.com/blazyn_bxtch/statuses/9978777809)

joeburkel @Activision fires Former @InfinityWard Heads just before having to payout HUGE royalty payments to them http://is.gd/9G05u (gamers RT this)
(http://twitter.com/joeburkel/statuses/9974384024)

xRhan @Activision is being fucking crap, A COD without IW isnt a COD. Activision sucks as a publisher. IW when the contract goes. Move from Acti.
(http://twitter.com/xRhan/statuses/9924999663)

manthedan480 @Activision Way to go, you just hit two birds with one stone. You not only lost 20% of your revenue, but you killed a revolutionary game.
(http://twitter.com/manthedan480/statuses/9899012294)

rolsen @Activision Fuck you guys. It is complete bullshit what happened to the IW heads. I am starting a boycott, and I’m not the only one.
(http://twitter.com/rolsen/statuses/9984857357)

I could have sworn Activision had millions of fans! Looks like it too.

Let’s see what’s tweeting!

@InfinityWard

@fourzerotwo I’m with @InfinityWard
(http://twitter.com/wowono/statuses/10095454247)

radiollei @InfinityWard = GOD, Activision-Blizzard SUCKS! Sledgehammer?!?!?wtf?!?
(http://twitter.com/radiollei/statuses/10024291229)

majred “This lawsuit is solely the result of the astonishing arrogance of #Activision.” –love it! @InfinityWard
(http://twitter.com/majred/statuses/10010632513)

k1ngeljay RT @Rhymestyle: So does that mean we wont get a #MW3? If @InfinityWard doesn’t make it, then it’ll probably suck =[
(http://twitter.com/k1ngeljay/statuses/9992435243)

TheKidLewis @InfinityWard can you tell Activision to sod off? it’s quite clear they will ruin the COD franchise now milking it for all its worth. Pigs
(http://twitter.com/TheKidLewis/statuses/9975836015)

maxator I hope all the @InfinityWard guys leave Activision, form WardInfinity, make their space concept, and smoke Activision’ s oppressive @ss.
(http://twitter.com/maxator/statuses/9956013263)

DFlannagan10 Activi$ion are just going to ruin the franchise, that @InfinityWard made amazing! Agree @FourZeroTwo?
(http://twitter.com/DFlannagan10/statuses/9947308452)

nbnz Is anyone else hoping the good folks @infinityward pack up and follow Vince & Jason and get back to their roots without Activision
(http://twitter.com/nbnz/statuses/9918686807)

shadowdogg @InfinityWard You guys should all pack up and leave actwithoutvision. They are ruining CoD and don’t deserve you guys. Think about it
(http://twitter.com/shadowdogg/statuses/9916485723)

TheYounicorn So bummed about the situation at @InfinityWard. All the best to the talented, creative few who were let go. I know you’ll land on your feet.
(http://twitter.com/TheYounicorn/statuses/9907352220)

I must have been mistaken, looks like it’s Infinity Ward has the millions of fans. Oh no wait, that was Activision’s statement regarding their success… they must have been getting comfy in those IW chairs before making a statement ¬¬

Let’s see what’s tweeting!

@fourzerotwo

Bla_zian @fourzerotwo Just wondering as many are, have you left the ranks of @InfinityWard?
(http://twitter.com/Bla_zian/statuses/10099153216)

DaveSchwark @fourzerotwo you know if you need an attorney I’m taking the bar next year. But seriously, if the complaint is all true, ATVI is pure evil.
(http://twitter.com/DaveSchwark/statuses/10098731511)

adonisdemon RT @MW2comments: @fourzerotwo #MW2 Re: Copy of West, Zampella Lawsuit against Activision: You know, I am taking IW’s side on http://url4.eu/1gnlH
(http://twitter.com/adonisdemon/statuses/10097601671)

aKa_BFeLLa @Fourzerotwo – Can you confirm the rumor that has been afloat about you leaving IW?
(http://twitter.com/aKa_BFeLLa/statuses/10096027619)

Jack_Wilson1993 @fourzerotwo sorry to hear you left IW, you are a good lad and all you lot should be treated better, good luck in the future !
(http://twitter.com/Jack_Wilson1993/statuses/10095958687)

mrbigballs @fourzerotwo so now that IW is ‘gone’, whats next?
(http://twitter.com/mrbigballs/statuses/10089333939)

kstrauss11 @fourzerotwo why off the grid for so long?
(http://twitter.com/kstrauss11/statuses/10087220095)

Habylab @fourzerotwo Still got a job?
(http://twitter.com/Habylab/statuses/10086451005)

BSGRoadkill @fourzerotwo Will the latest issue between IW and Activision affect DLC release?
(http://twitter.com/BSGRoadkill/statuses/10079978092)

Evil_Ken @fourzerotwo come back to twitter robert, we miss you!
(http://twitter.com/Evil_Ken/statuses/10075034353)

Hmm, yes. Where have you been Robert? Has Activision gagged your Twitter routine?

The last we heard from you was:

I should also say, while I appreciate all the calls, tweets, messages and hearing my ringtone a lot. They’re in vain -  as I have no info.
(http://twitter.com/fourzerotwo/statuses/9862284309)

We are led to believe, by video postings, that a ‘part 2′ containing more images is coming soon.

I’m sure KOTI will let us know if anything interesting was the cause.

For future reference our forums and website are hosted off different servers, so unless the network is down or some noob tries to pull the plug on us, you can always access the forums at http://forums.modernwarfail2.com

Update by KingOfTehInternets:

For some reason, our cache server (Varnish) ‘pooped it’s pants’. Moreover, an important file (httpd.conf) got changed and I’m still unsure how that happened. Apparantly, someone/something changed an IP address which should resolve back to our VPS in the file mentioned above. But since it was changed, it was resolving to a wrong IP, thus causing downtime.

During this downtime, the forums were still accessible, which is strange because the cache software is ran on the same VPS as the forum.

I would like to thank Raja K. and TheServerExperts for their support and time in investigating and solving this matter.

http://www.modernwarfail2.com/2010/03/07/screens-of-leaked-dlc/

UPDATE 03:

Uh Oh! This video no longer exists.

{ Translation some Activision noob killed it }

UPDATE 02:

UPDATE 01:

This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Activision Games Inc.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Supposed screenshots of Modern first map pack have appeared on the internet, in the form of a YouTube video.

The ‘Stimulus Package’ map pack – rumoured to be due in April – is to include five maps; mp_crash, mp_overgrown, mp_complex, mp_compact and mp_storm, the first of which were in the original Modern Warfare: Call of Duty 4. The authenticity of these screens has not yet been verified official.

Our original story is at: http://www.modernwarfail2.com/2010/03/05/g4tv-com-taken-down/