Call of Duty XP Begins, Global Briefing Today

With Call of Duty XP starting, it’s time to gear up for some big announcements to celebrate the year’s massive, sold out Call of Duty fan celebration. Today at 10:00am PT, Activision will host a global briefing, priming COD XP attendees and viewers at home with Infinite Warfare news, world premiere trailers, franchise announcements and more. We have more world premieres to share than we ever have in one event.

Tune in to the livestream of the briefing on the Call of Duty Twitch channel, YouTube, Facebook page, the Call of Duty homepage, and the Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Live Event Viewer to catch all the excitement kicking off the weekend’s festivities!

Watch live video from Call of Duty on www.twitch.tv

For those of you making the trip out to LA, here is everything you need to know about the who, what and where of all the Call of Duty developers speaking about their craft at COD XP.

Full panel schedule and details below:

Building the Zombies Universe: A Candid Conversation with Members of Treyarch’s Zombies Development Team

When: Friday, September 2 @ 3:30pm PST

Panelists: Jason Blundell (Director of Zombies – Treyarch), Craig Houston (Lead Writer – Treyarch)

Moderator: John Rafacz, Director of Communications & Social Media

Director of Zombies, Jason Blundell and Lead Writer, Craig Houston discuss the long-running narrative of the storied Black Ops Zombies saga and its climactic end with Revelations. Blundell and Houston will discuss the development history of Zombies, construction of its universe, the evolution of its story and its characters, and conduct a Q&A with fans.
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The Music of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

When: Friday, September 2 @ 5pm PST

Panelists: Stephen Miller (Audio Director – Infinity Ward), Sarah Schachner (Composer), Jonathan Mayer (Senior Music Manager/Producer – Sony

Interactive Entertainment)

Moderator: Ashton Williams (Community Manager – Infinity Ward)

An in-depth conversation about what it takes to make remarkable, Call of Duty-worthy music and audio across all games modes for Infinite Warfare. Panelists will explore the musical themes of Infinite Warfare, what they signify, how they relate to in-game characters, items, events, or scenarios, and unpack the music and audio implementation for the game. Go on a behind-the-scenes journey of the recording process and be ready for unique soundtrack announcements.
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Creating the World of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare – Navy meets NASA Design

When: Saturday, September 3 @ 2pm PST

Panelists: Aaron Beck (Principal Concept Artist – Infinity Ward), Thomas Szakolczay (Lead Concept Artist – Infinity Ward), John Dobbie (Environment Art Lead – Infinity Ward), Joby Harris (Visual Strategist), and Peter Meakin (Spacecraft Systems Engineer)

Moderator: Brian Horton (Studio Art Director – Infinity Ward)

A look at the game aesthetic of Infinite Warfare and how “Navy meets NASA” design inspired the game’s unique creations and appearance. The panel will include a deep dive into how these seemingly disparate elements work, or why they needed to be fictionalized for the space setting. We’ll also explore the functionality and practicality of real-life Navy and NASA designs and how they inspired in-game designs.
In addition, fans can learn more about Infinite Warfare’s vehicles, robot design, level design, game locations, overall look, and more. A sneak peek at how we made select Calling Card art with some special surprises.
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The Making of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered

When: Saturday, September 3 @ 3:30pm PST

Panelists: David Pellas (Studio Director – Art & Design – Raven Software), Mike Denny (Lead Designer – Infinity Ward), Oscar Lopez (Multiplayer Designer – Infinity Ward), Thomas Wilson (Co-Studio Head – Beenox), David Mertz (Design Director – Certain Affinity)

Moderator: Jeremy Soule (Sr. Manager of Employee Communications – Activision Blizzard)

Developers from Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Beenox, and Certain Affinity provide an inside look into the remastering of the critically-acclaimed Modern Warfare. Panelists will discuss the process of remastering the classic game, the creative vision behind upgrading gameplay and aesthetics, and conduct a Q&A with fans.
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Sledgehammer Games – The Seven Year Journey

When: Saturday, September 3 @ 5pm PST

Panelists: Michael Condrey (Co-Founder & Studio Head), Glen Schofield (Co-Founder & Studio Head)

Moderator: Russell Richardson (Cormack, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare)

Over the last seven years, Sledgehammer Games has grown from its two founding fathers in a temporary office space in 2009 to over 250 developers today in a two-story Bay Area development studio – including a satellite office in Melbourne, Australia.

During the Seven Year Journey panel at Call of Duty XP, we’ll take a deep dive into Sledgehammer Games’ development process with studio heads Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, hear behind-the-scenes stories from the development of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and they’ll answer some of your questions about their studio. And who knows -– they may share some studio and game secrets, reveal undiscovered Easter Eggs, and shed some light on mysterious past projects!

Be sure to stick around afterwards for a fan meetup, swag giveaway, and a meet-and-greet with some of the cast members of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare!