Viral marketing lets slip the dogtags of Modern Warfare 3 [update: Activision comments]

by Christopher Grant on Feb 25th 2011 8:10PM

Two years ago, Infinity Ward used the Game Developer's Conference Awards show to unveil the trailer (and date!) for its hugely anticipated followup, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. If we're reading the signals right, it's looking to use the conference for the reveal of the third installment (Modern Warfare 3?), a game that's been shrouded in mystery following the developer's very public (and very ugly!) executive departures.

Someone sent over a pair of dog tags, pictured above, that include a link to findmakarov.com, with the totally-a-tag-line "End the War" stamped above it. The site includes a countdown which takes us to 10am ET next Wednesday, March 2. The other dog tag belongs to – gross, a dead guy! – Lt. General Shepherd, MW2's main bad dude, who evidently has a birthdate of ... next Tuesday? Wait, that's not right ...

The site's whois information has been anonymized, and we're busy trying to confirm the validity of the tags with Activision. The GDC Awards take place on Wednesday night this year and, glancing at our packed GDC calendar for next week, Tuesday night belongs to EA's competing Battlefield 3. So either Activision wants to steal some of their thunder, or this is a comically elaborate ruse on EA's part.

The return address indicates Toronto-based "viral marketers" VVO Media are behind the mailing and, with a slim portfolio, it's tough to say who they're working for. Oh viral marketing, how we grow tired of you.

[Update 5:45pm – VVO Media's site is now offline. Go figure.]

[Update 8:05pm -- We've received the following comment from an Activision spokesperson: "There seems to be a great deal of speculation about the next Call of Duty project. Let me be clear that we are not revealing yet. Anything indicating otherwise is a hoax." We contacted EA for comment when the story first broke and have yet to receive a response.]

Lt. General Shepherd's Dog Tags

Tags: Activision, Call-of-Duty, Call-of-Duty-Modern-Warfare-3, find-makarov, findmakarov.com, Infinity-Ward, microsoft, Modern-Warfare-3, pc, playstation, ps3, Raven-Software, Sledgehammer-Games, xbox

Reader Comments (168)

I gave up on COD after Black Ops. Its the same thing and they don't try to do anything new. MW3 will have to suprise me if they want me to buy it.

@Captain Planet Planeteer Power

oh captain planet...shouldn't you be out saving the planet from toxic sludge or some shit? you've fallen pretty far my friend. too many psychotropics for you you thong wearing, left-wing hippy bastard.

@Liquidfingers

I think I figured out Captain Planets secret identity. Captain Planet is CHARLIE SHEEN! *gasp*

@Jay Z I loved Black Ops, but Modern Warfare 3 doesn't excite me in the slightest. CoD 4 was fresh, MW2 was boring, and I don't want a 3rd run of it. Black Ops really polished up the gameplay and gave a fresh Cold War scenario, and going back to Modern War is THAT much more boring.

I'm just gonna stick with Black Ops.

@Jay Z
Nothing new?!!! Don't you see the dogtag in the lower lefthand corner? It's Commander Shepherd of Mass Effect fame. This is the prequel, where he was still a Lt. prior to him joining the space marines or whatnot. Crossover ftw!

@pkpk523

"I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite reiteration of the multimillion unit-selling Call of Duty franchise on the Citadel".

Did I do it right? I'm not so good at this type of thing.

@MakeThemListen PERFECT! Also, they lost me before Black Ops, then had me when they said the SP aspect was better, then I played it and it had Treyarch written all over it. That was my fault. I'm done w/ COD. Sorry friends, hope to see you on MW2.

@MontEdZuma

the pathetic part of this whole comment train is that EVERY single one of you will buy the next COD game... but you're all welcome to downvote me so you can feel like you actually won't.

@Liquidfingers

Haters gonna hate.

@Dirty

Well, he hasn't made an uncomfortable comment calling Bobby Kotick by his Hebrew name...

...yet.

@PR0F3TA

well i know for a fact i won't be buying the new one. i didn't buy either black ops or modern warfare 2. i did play them, don't get me wrong, but i definitely do not own them, nor do i have any intention of owning any future call of duty games ever.

@PR0F3TA
I've not bought a COD since I got 4 a year ago for $20. Past that I played CoD2 and didn't like it. Even with CoD4 I didn't like it. I've been more of a battlefield person.

@Jay Z First off, just gonna say I hate everysingle Call of Duty game.

But, to respond to what you said. Everyone wants change, you know what happens when change happens? Devil May Cry is turning into Devil Teen Angst.

Resident Evil goes from Horror to Action, Sonic goes from Awesome to crap, Final Fantasy goes from Turn based to whatever it is right now, Phantasy Star Online turns into the horrid Universe and i'm talking about the main version of PSU not the portable variants. Or Halo 1-2 going to whatever Halo 3 and Reach was/is.

The list goes on, 95% of the time ends up ruining a game series.
There should just be stuff added in, not "Changes".
And we're assuming with change that we're talking about great games that shouldn't be changed.

@Jay Z

Too bad for you, quite honestly. Black Ops was significantly better than the mess that was Modern warfare 2- both online and offline. I'm just hoping the 16 new developers they've brought in can resurrect any the fun of the Modern Warfare franchise that was crushed with the last one.

@Jay Z On to the next one. BF3!

@Speedracer98

Vote down Speedracer all you want, but he's 100% correct. Enough with the Infinity Ward sheep.

Meh. No Infinity Ward = No buy

@TraceurRyuk Part III IW is pretty much the head team, overseeing the actions of Raven (SP) and Sledgehammer (MP). Though, IW is still half the studio it once was.

@LOMDR

Yeah, that's what I meant. Infinity Ward is just a name, doesn't mean that it's the same team. I'd say half is an overstatement.

@TraceurRyuk Part III But it has the corpse of IW, as well as 2 incompetent developers! *end Activision sales pitch

@TraceurRyuk Part III
True, Infinity Ward is good, but Infinity Ward also=no patches to glitches.

@NewEraBlood

To be fair, we haven't seen anything from Sledgehammer. But yes, they'll still probably market it as an IW game.

@TraceurRyuk Part III

yeah because IW made MW2 so awesome /s

it sucks when another studio releases a game twice as better as yours (talking about Treyarch)

@TraceurRyuk Part III I think actually they lost less than half of their studio. IIRC, they had 100 people there and they lost 36-46 from the firing of the 2 heads and those that walked out because they respected the heads more than the money/Activision.

@Mr Esc is the namesarcasm is my I'm a bit afraid of the MP myself, because the last game the head of Sledgehammer helped develop is Dead Space, which is nothing like a COD game.

@TraceurRyuk Part III

i love how people say no IW no buy, but they forget IW made MW2 and MW2 blows. CoD is stale as shit. nothing can save it and only stupid early teenage boys keep the franchise alive for the last 2 years.

@8bitartist

I suppose that's why Modern Warfare 2 has a 94 on Metacritic. MW2 was a great game. Despite your hipster outlook on anything mainstream Call of Duty is still a good franchise. Won't be for long at this rate though.

@Mr Esc is the namesarcasm you are either insane or just completely forgetting that Jedi Knight 2, Jedi Academy, X-Men legends, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance all came out 2000-2010. Seriously, did I even have to list them past Jedi Knight 2?

@TraceurRyuk Part III

LOL more armchair developers.

Infinity Ward has become the most overrated development teams in decades. Sure they've made great games, but they've also regurgitated crap like Modern Warfare 2. I find the Infinity Ward sheep effect to be pretty funny: Just because their name is on something, it's "better," even though it isn't. Fact is, Treyarch has made the last 2 GOOD COD games. But because people are blinded by so-called reputation, and averse to a "different" developer, they miss out on games like Black Ops and WaW, and would rather play a mess like MW2.

@TraceurRyuk Part III

The metacritic defense of Modern Warfare 2 holds little water. Like most games, the reviews came out on or shortly after release--but *unlike* most games, Modern Warfare 2 is more or less all about the multiplayer. If the reviews came out about a month later, they'd know that the focus of the game became unplayable and joyless. I'm a HUGE fan of the COD franchise, but MW2 was the one I've played the least, and it doesn't come close to Treyarch's efforts.

@Brian Griffin

That was one of the most ignorant statements I've ever read. Just because you don't like a game doesn't mean it's not good. I disagree, as do millions of others that enjoyed that game.

Let's all NOT buy this game to show our support for the execs and how we hate the business of big business.

@Revving Injuns Yo dawg, I heard you like business...

@Revving Injuns

We can't do that b/c it'll be a slap in the face to Sledgehammer Games and Glenn Schofield in general...we have to support the man who brought Dead Space into this world!

I'll just guess right now it's the exact same as the last 4 games in the series but with a few new guns and skins.

@HissingNewt

siiick. so you're telling me this one is going to jump from wwii, to modern day, back to vietnam and the cold war?! awesome!!!?! omg omg, i can't wait this is going to be the best game ever i hope they have dlc for it day 1 buy GOTY!!!!!!!

@Liquidfingers

FIRST

@HissingNewt pretty much.

@Liquidfingers

...I think I see what you did there, but no one else will due to ghosting.

I want one!

As someone who was enjoying Black Ops, I must say: meh. Refresh this joint

@24hourpartypal

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3: Space Warfare

Buy the "Unnecessary Special Edition" today!

i see a partial finger print on there............. cases have been solved with less

I'd get a sample of that blood over to the lab... this could just be a deadly case of trolling.

@SaltCube64

Then they come to find out it was just red fingernail polish.

Modern Warfare 3? I totally did not see that coming.

Why can't he save the planet AND look at boobs?

wgas, wgaf

Can't wait for Battlefield 3! Oh what game are we talking about?

I love viral marketing! though i dont know how i feel about another MW title. Hopefully the story is not utter trash like the 2nd one

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Viral marketing lets slip the dogtags of Modern Warfare 3 [update: Activision comments]

Lt. General Shepherd's Dog Tags

Reader Comments (168)

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:04PM Jay Z said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:14PM Liquidfingers said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:50PM Dirty said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:52PM wcarnation said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 5:29PM pkpk523 said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 6:00PM MakeThemListen said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 6:11PM MontEdZuma said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 6:41PM PR0F3TA said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 7:43PM Captain Planet Planeteer Power said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 8:42PM Urethra Alfredo said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 9:27PM Liquidfingers said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 10:07PM The Aquacharger said

Posted: Feb 26th 2011 4:58AM Juri said

Posted: Feb 26th 2011 5:28AM Brian Griffin said

Posted: Feb 26th 2011 2:25PM The Cole Train said

Posted: Feb 28th 2011 3:06PM Brian Griffin said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:05PM TraceurRyuk Part III said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:32PM LOMDR said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:46PM TraceurRyuk Part III said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:48PM NewEraBlood said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:50PM pally321 said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:52PM TraceurRyuk Part III said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 6:44PM PR0F3TA said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 7:41PM LOMDR said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 7:48PM LOMDR said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 9:03PM 8bitartist said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 10:04PM TraceurRyuk Part III said

Posted: Feb 26th 2011 1:12PM TheDarkWayne said

Posted: Feb 28th 2011 3:00PM Brian Griffin said

Posted: Feb 28th 2011 3:04PM Brian Griffin said

Posted: Mar 1st 2011 7:56PM TraceurRyuk Part III said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:05PM Revving Injuns said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:41PM VIDEOGAMES said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 6:18PM kentuckyfried said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:05PM HissingNewt said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:10PM Liquidfingers said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:10PM Liquidfingers said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:36PM Johnny Neat said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 11:45PM TheBrainninja said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:06PM Beastcake said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:06PM 24hourpartypal said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:49PM The Joy of Painting w Bob Ross said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:06PM Protege420 said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:07PM SaltCube64 said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:16PM TraceurRyuk Part III said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:11PM The Scout said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 5:23PM EliminatorZigma said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:15PM Jack Kevorkian said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:16PM SuperAngryMeatBirdBoy said

Posted: Feb 25th 2011 4:16PM psnkillstrike said

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