X360

It’s time for gamers the world over to mark their calendars, because the ultimate high-stakes Call of Duty competition is coming this April, forever changing the face of competitive eSports. The Call of Duty Championship, presented by Xbox, featuring a $1 million Call of Duty: Black Ops II tournament, will take place in Hollywood, CA 5-7th April. Activision and their award-winning studio Treyarch, in partnership with Xbox, Major League Gaming (MLG) and the Electronic Sports League (ESL) will bring together 32 of the world’s most skilled multiplayer teams on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft to compete head-to-head in Call of Duty: Black Ops II in a live-streamed spectacular to be broadcast to the masses.

Activision Publishing today announced that for the fourth consecutive year, the Call of Duty franchise has delivered the biggest entertainment launch of the year. The highly-anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops II has achieved an estimated sell-through of more than $500 million worldwide in the first 24 hours of its release, according to Chart-Track, retail customer sell-through information and internal company estimates.

"With first day sales of over half a billion dollars worldwide, we believe Call of Duty is the biggest entertainment launch of the year for the fourth year in a row," said Bobby Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard, Inc. "Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded worldwide theatrical box office receipts for "Harry Potter" and "Star Wars," the two most successful movie franchises of all time. Given the challenged macro-economic environment, we remain cautious about the balance of 2012 and 2013."

Available from today, the Dragon Master Pack (640MSP, $7.99, €6.49, £5.10) offers players a content-rich collection of weapons, character upgrades, martial arts moves and missions, previously only available individually at pre-order. The Square Enix Character Pack (160MSP, $1.99, €1.49, £1.19) lets players become a silent assassin, augmented warrior or king of chaos with three new character outfits, each with a unique new weapon and buff.

The Dragon Master Pack is available to download from today on Xbox LIVE, PlayStation Network and Steam. The Square Enix Character Pack is available from today on Xbox LIVE, PlayStation Network (Europe) and Steam and from November 20th on PlayStation Network (North America).

More information can be found at www.sleepingdogs.net, our extensive community website where players can track their in-game progress and see how they shape-up against the global Sleeping Dogs community.

Dragon Master Pack

In a year when Hollywood is rolling out its biggest blockbusters, one video game has eclipsed them all. “Halo 4” is on track to reach $300 million in global sales in the first week, making it the biggest “Halo” launch in history and the biggest entertainment launch of the year to date. In the first 24 hours of its release, “Halo 4” garnered more than $220 million worldwide, eclipsing the record for the biggest day-one opening in U.S. box office history, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” and the biggest movie of 2012, “The Avengers Assemble” – based on U.S. sales alone.

The launch of “Halo 4” propelled lifetime sales for the “Halo” franchise beyond $3.38 billion, cementing its status as one of the most popular entertainment franchises in the world. “Halo 4” also shattered the record for the largest number of players in the history of the “Halo” franchise, with over 4 million players in the first five days. Users spent a total of 31.4 million hours playing “Halo 4,” pushing the total number of gameplay hours across the “Halo” franchise well beyond the five billion mark.

Turtle Beach has announced its full line of exclusively licensed, limited edition Call of Duty: Black Ops II Ear Force headsets are now available from retailers. Custom designed and optimized to deliver enhanced audio for the year’s most anticipated entertainment launch, the distinctive line includes the Ear Force TANGO, Ear Force SIERRA, Ear Force X-RAY, Ear Force KILO and Ear Force EARBUDS. Accompanying the series’ release are eight premium voice prompts for gamers interested in the ultimate immersion within the epic title. Available for download via the Turtle Beach website, the voice prompts feature leading characters from the Call of Duty: Black Ops II cast across single player, multiplayer and Zombies.

Whether accompanied by the tough and gravelly voice of Sergeant Frank Woods, the sentient tones of a Female Computer, or Dr. Richtofen’s sociopathic proclamations, the voice prompts available for select Call of Duty: Black Ops II Ear Force headsets will ensure a seamless and completely immersive experience as players face-off for battle once the blockbuster game hits worldwide on November 13.

With the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops II less than 40 days away, Activision announced today that all of its Call of Duty Elite service features for Call of Duty: Black Ops II will be free when the blockbuster game hits worldwide on 13th November. With Call of Duty Elite free for Call of Duty: Black Ops II, both new and veteran Call of Duty Elite members alike will be able to enjoy the full range of Call of Duty Elite’s robust service and features integrated into the highly-anticipated new game in development by award-winning studio Treyarch.

“We’ve learned a lot in our first year of Call of Duty Elite, and we’re very proud that we over delivered on our commitment of playable content to our premium members,” said Activision Publishing CEO, Eric Hirshberg. “What we have realised is that several of the Call of Duty Elite services which are currently only available to our premium members for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 are things that would further unite, engage and delight our player community. So we are going to make them free for Call of Duty: Black Ops II.”