FindMakarov.com teasing Toronto group's 'Call of Duty-inspired' project [update]

by Justin McElroy on Feb 27th 2011 10:30AM

Some times, some crimes go slipping through the cracks, and when that happens there's one gumshoe we can count on to pick up the slack: Dean (Hon.) Geoff Keighley. The Spike TV personality says he's unearthed the source of the FindMakarov.com teaser site and it couldn't be further from a Modern Warfare 3 announcement as we and many others assumed.

Keighley says the countdown was created by We Can Pretend, a Toronto-based group that's supposedly working on a Call of Duty-inspired project of some sort. Keighley added "production sources who worked on the self-funded project call it visually spectacular."

We Can Pretend appears to be closely tied to VVO Media, the group that mailed out the mysterious dog tags that got this whole train rolling. On VVO's now-defunct portfolio page, it takes credit for marketing two We Can Pretend-created videos, "Doritos Tablet" and "Wateraid."

As Activision stated previously, the megapublisher doesn't appear to be involived, though we'll hopefully have all the details when the countdown ends on March 2.

Update: The creators of the project sent us a teaser image of the finished product, which we've posted after the jump. If we were the guessing type, we'd say it's a still from a short film. Or an advertisement for super, super untrustworthy riot shields.

Update 2: The project has been revealed.

[Thanks, Morey]

Source: GameSlice

Tags: activision, call-of-duty, find-makarov, findmakarov.com, microsoft, modern-warfare-2, pc, playstation, ps3, we-can-pretend, xbox

Reader Comments (56)

People can say what they want...but CoD sure does draw in an audience the last CoD post got 100+ comments both good and bad...

Its the brand du jour for gamers to complain about things. Most people whining about CoD have no interest in playing a twitch shooter FPS online.

@JnRx
Any publicity is good publicity with Activation. If it gets people talking, they have done their job. So fans can hate on them & talk trash about COD all they want, all they are doing is making Activation's stock increase

@Clydeftones I agree I don't understand if you hate or dislike something simply avoid it don't continuously complain o_o just play what you like and don't play what you don't like simple as that.

@Clydeftones

It isn't a twitch shooter it's a maze shooter. Unreal is a twitch shooter.

@Anticrawl

There is no need to over analyze this, CoD is a FPS that puts emphasis on twitch responses (as well as connection).

@JnRx spelling error Mc Drunkleroy! ;)

@JnRx
The funny part is that most of the people complaining about it are the ones that plunked down cash to help make it a billion dollar franchise, and will likely do so again when the next one comes out, it's not actual hatred, it's projection. The internet is full of people who will complain until they are blue in the face, but get right in line when the next big game sequel or apple product come out, lest we forget the noble modern warfare 2 "protesters" who were all caught playing the game on it's release.

@JnRx
You know, after playing a lot of legitimately bad games last year, in particular FPS's, I've come to realize CoD is a pretty good franchise. It's major faults (lack of innovation and over saturation (one game per year)) are not as bad as some other games. I mean at least the gameplay is solid. Reviewers still overrate it like crazy though.

@Prboi

I can't wait for the next game from......Activation

We Can Pretend is about 5 seconds away from a lawsuit.

4....
3...

But that means people can't spew their CoD hatred towards a mysterious website...

Aw, shucks.

Awwww, was really hoping its was a Battlefield 3 thing just to draw the suckers in and then wow them with some new footage or something.

I mean Dogtags. Its just something the BF series already does, makes partial sense given that their appearing at GDC anyways. But the CoD Inspired bit mentioned ruins the theory overall.

Activision are BSing, if this site had nothing to do with them it would have been taken down in seconds and the company behind it sued.

It has to be Activision, it uses Makarov's image, A voiceover form Modern Warfare 2 of someone shouting "SOAP!" the Modern Warfare font, General Shepherds likeness, the NVG noise from Modern Warfare 1 and 2 and finally they used his name on dogtags.

@iceytoa1
Not necessarily. Although Activation may seem like the company to go apeshit on this type of thing, they are actually kind of lenient on their copyrights. Look at Bulletstorm's promo with "Duty Calls". They used the same font & presentation yet Activation let it be. Look at all the Call of Duty YouTube videos up. They would have been taken down immediately if they were tightwads about it. As long as they don't try to garner money by using their intellectual property, then they are safe

Unless a font has been created specifically for something, you can't call copyright violation for it's use.

The Dialo font, Exocet, was created by a third party and can be licensed for other games. It appearing in a non-Diablo game does not mean there is a copyright violation.

Now, if you name your game something similiar, use the same font, and try to imitate that game to steal customers, then you can get gotten for it but for a completely different reason, not just the font.

Duty Calls falls under parody, they can't be sued anyway.

@Prboi This Toronto based company ARE AN ADVERTISING company...
Activision obviously hired the two companies to work in tandem, one the web, the other intriguing people.

@Prboi

Duty Calls could get away with that because it was a parody... look up fair use laws. and even if it wasn't, the infringements weren't that bad.

fwiw, along with Beachhead working on the development of an innovative new digital platform and special services for our Call of Duty community." and the assumed Modern Warfare 3 project from the ghost of IW, this would be 3 concurrent CoD based projects.

That makes over saturation a genuine possibility, unlike the annual release model which, to be honest, works.

@Clydeftones should have been an open for that quote at "development". Now it just looks like im shilling for some vague CoD product.

@Clydeftones

Beachhead is just a payment plan that will give you some services that nobody will have while still keeping COD multiplayer free. Like rendering full matches to upload & other features of that sort

we have a sauce on this? That seems like a niche service that doesnt require a whole new platform.

@Clydeftones

They didn't want to outright say that's what it is but, that's what it is. What else could it be? As much as Bobby Kotick would LOVE to add a subscription plan to COD, he wouldn't want to lose money on the already skyrocketing sales of the franchise. Adding a service on top of a service insures that people will buy the games while some people will want to try out the additional service. What I'm surprised about is that they haven't jumped on the 10 dollar online pass gig like EA & THQ have done already. Being that COD is the #1 most pirated game out there, you would think Activision would want to capitalize on that.

@Prboi

I just wanted to make sure we were both riding the Speculation Train. I interpreted the announcement as a development of a CoD based store or hub of data. A service to host gameplays would be fine but that bubble has burst imo.

I would be surprised if it was a marginal subscription service and frankly I wouldnt be opposed if the series moves in that direction, but Im in the vast minority there.

I don't believe anything Geoff Keighley says.

@CynicalStrike
Geoff Keighley is an asshole when it comes to interviews. While I admire him for asking the questions that nobody asks sometimes he takes it too far like citing something that a company isn't too proud of like poor games sales/ratings or things of that nature. It's not something someone wants to talk about if they are trying to promote something. It makes things uncomfortable

At least it isn't a another COD game.

@ Prboi

While they left Duty Calls alone, that was a case of parody, which there is plenty of precedent upholding. This is a case of misappropriation, which is much more actionable.

Doing a simple WHOIS search on findmakarov.com shows that the domain was bought from somebody in Toronto. Coincidence? I think not.

Since no one else has said it yet....

Chi Chi Chi Chip And Dale Rescue Rangers!

@Miadaskate

I was really disappointed that no one said anything! A +1 for you, sir!

@Miadaskate

I don't get it... Did I miss something?

@Prboi
Are you serious?
"Sometimes, some crimes go slipping through the cracks. But these two, gumshoes, are picking up the slack. There's no case too big, no case too small. When you need help, just call..."

It's the theme to Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers. The beginning of the post...

Now we need a post that starts with "Life is like a hurricane..."

@sadistic freek

1) It's been a while since I watched Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers

2) Reading it in text isn't the same as hearing it on TV. My memory won't pick up on that since I never really payed attention to any words other than "Chi Chi Chi Chip And Dale! Rescue Rangers"

@Miadaskate
CaD: Rescue Rangers
I'd buy that for a dollar.

this is definitely a work from activision. just to make an advertisement that would turn out to be fake and then they would announce the real thing and blew everyone away:)

@malnsk

One thing nobody can't deny is the viral marketing Activision does. It really is top notch. Look at the Black Ops viral site GKNova6.

@malnsk
I reckon they hired the companies to do this Viral Marketing, but forgot to say don't be too blatanly obvious....

This will probably be a video series based on the universe of Modern Warfare

@Prboi

Looks like I hit the nail right on the head

Typo at the end of the article "involived"

Interested to see what's at the end of this countdown.

We Can Pretend, indeed.

If this doesn't have anything to do with Activision and everything thinks it does, then it's is money well wasted.

Whatever the case, Activision is certainly getting some attention out of it.

Even though I don't really like Call Of Duty, I still think this is very deceptive. This group should have known that the majority of gamers are quick to jump on to Viral Marketing Campaigns, considering that 80% of all games use them.
...
...
...
Or Activision is BSing and this COD Inspired project is just the beginning of the real marketing campaign for MW3.

Bioware should just move here to Toronto from Alberta instead.

@Mr Esc is the namesarcasm is my

Does Kojima ring a bell?

theres no case too big, no case too small, when you need help, just call Geoff Keighley, Rescue Gamer.

(suffice to say, nice Rescue Rangers reference)

COD is legit to complain about because it's bad for gaming.

It's leading people into a cookie cutter, overpriced DLC and annual release type world.

All those things are bad for gaming. If companies see they can release the same crap every year what is the point in actually spenind quality time creating a game (like GTA does).

@Patricio87

Too bad GTA 4 is a poor example of taking the time to release a "good" game. GTA 4 was a step back from previous iterations of the franchise, but I understand the point you're making.

@Patricio87

Thats some heavy inference. The market decides what is good, while you may not enjoy CoD games there are plenty of people who do and are willing to pay for a new version every year. That fanbase justifies the campaign, other titles dont have the resources (dual studio) or fanbase to justify that saturation level.

No need to White Knight for gamers, its a self regulating medium.

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FindMakarov.com teasing Toronto group's 'Call of Duty-inspired' project [update]

Reader Comments (56)

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 10:48AM JnRx said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 10:59AM Clydeftones said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 11:18AM Prboi said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 11:27AM JnRx said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 12:26PM Anticrawl said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 12:36PM Clydeftones said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 3:55PM The Wicker Man said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 4:33PM antv said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 6:54PM Deschain said

Posted: Feb 28th 2011 11:44AM skfireboy said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 10:49AM Beastcake said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 10:51AM jynxycat said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 11:02AM Red Deer said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 11:06AM iceytoa1 said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 11:24AM Prboi said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 11:55AM Drakkenfyre said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 12:39PM iceytoa1 said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 2:34PM maveric101 said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 11:08AM Clydeftones said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 12:37PM Clydeftones said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 1:00PM Prboi said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 1:59PM Clydeftones said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 2:42PM Prboi said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 2:49PM Clydeftones said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 11:13AM CynicalStrike said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 11:28AM Prboi said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 11:24AM The Cole Train said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 11:58AM The Radio Waves Were Like Snow said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 11:44AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 12:16PM Miadaskate said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 12:30PM Xiegfried said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 1:37PM Prboi said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 2:23PM sadistic freek said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 2:46PM Prboi said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 5:30PM PN04 said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 12:18PM malnsk said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 12:22PM Prboi said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 1:15PM iceytoa1 said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 12:19PM Prboi said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 4:39PM Prboi said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 12:55PM Lucifon said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 12:55PM SonoTori said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 12:58PM Starcade said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 1:56PM RoboZombie585 said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 1:57PM Typhonic said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 2:35PM Prboi said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 2:42PM BLipp18 said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 2:46PM Patricio87 said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 3:46PM Xcrucio said

Posted: Feb 27th 2011 7:23PM Clydeftones said

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