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Commercial Real Estate Loans Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. Stop by your local Wells Fargo and ask about Business Real Estate Financing. are souring on Call of Duty and one of pillars is in danger of crumbling.

takes a few iterations to build a blockbuster said Evan Wilson, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities. it only takes one bad game to kill a No one is more aware of this than Lamia. His studio has developed two other Call of Duty games Call of Duty 3in 2006 and World at War in 2008. Both have sold millions of copies and were considered financial successes in their own rights. But Treyarch historically toiled under the shadow of Infinity Ward, the Activ- ision-owned Encino studio that many consider to be the best developer of the genre of games.

Infinity Call of Duty titles have consistently scored better reviews and sold better than of the characterization of Treyarch as being the team is Wilson said. again, important to note that just about everybody is the team if you compare them to Infinity That distinction ended when Jason West and Vince Zampella, fired from their posts as heads of Infinity Ward, left to form a new studio, Respawn. More than half of the developers at Infinity Ward left with them. With Zampella and West gone, Lamia inherited sole possession of one of Activ- biggest and most lucrative properties. a role Lamia, who boast the artistic background of many game developers, arguably has groomed for during his 15-year career at the company.

After graduating from Loyola Law School, Lamia took an entry-level job at Ac- tivision in 1995, burning CD- ROM discs in the lab. He worked his way up to become assistant producer, producer and then, eventually, vice president of North American studios. He switched to Treyarch in 2006 and became its studio chief a year later. Affable and animated, Lamia earned a reputation as a go-to executive when Activision needed to get things done, whether it was signing a publishing deal with a developer or making sure a game ships on time and on budget. is an Activision lifer, someone who could always get the job said Keighley, a longtime game journalist.

all goes well with Black Ops, I expect he will be the man in charge of this Call of Duty brand going Keighley added. Lamia feels the pressures facing his Santa Monica studio. than ever, our work has to speak for Lamia said. game we made is different and unique. If we can focus on doing our best work, we can produce work that is at the top of our studio is the antithesis of Infinity Ward, which had a testy relationship with Activision Chief Executive Bobby Kotick.

200 employees work across the street from offices in Santa Monica, and Lamia solicits frequent feedback from the publisher on Black Ops. Infinity Ward, by contrast, allow Activ- ision executives to see Modern Warfare 2 until after it had been in development for more than a year. Since Activision acquired Treyarch in 2001, the corporate parent has steered the game studio to its own priorities, including developing sequels of games from licenses such as Spider-Man. Since 2008, however, it has focused solely on Call of Duty. Set during the Cold War era, Black Ops thrusts players in the role of CIA agents working on top-secret operations including the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba and the Vietnam War.

It adds new elements such as piloting a helicopter and animation created in consultation with a former Soviet special operations soldier, in addition to voice work performed by film stars Sam Worthington and Ed Harris. we made World at War, we wanted to focus on something entirely new and Lamia said. Cold War was totally fertile ground, and added elements that have never been seen in a Call of Duty game For many gamers, the ability to compete online against friends and strangers is what makes Call of Duty worth buying. Black Ops tries to expand on that heritage with an array of new online features, including the ability to record multi- player matches, edit the video to create combat movies and share the clips with other players. lot of the questions for Treyarch come down to the multi-player, because where Infinity Ward was off the said Adam Sessler, a host of the gaming news show on cable network G4.

people who have a long-term relationship with Call of Duty, all about With a budget estimated at more than $50 million, Black Ops is the most expensive Call of Duty game yet made. Its launch is backed by a massive marketing campaign featuring billboards, TV ads and outreach to gamers. One ad featured Kobe Bryant and Jimmy Kimmel as soldiers in abattlefield. Kotick told Wall Street analysts during a conference call last week that the game should have an even bigger launch than the record-setting $500 million in sales that Modern Warfare 2 generated during its first five days. That said, the company counting on sales to hold up as well.

Its financial projections assume that Black Ops will sell less during the quarter ending Dec. 31than its predecessor, Ac- tivision executives said dur- inga recent earnings call. Pacific Crest analyst, projected sales of 14 million copies for Black Ops for the quarter, compared with a record 16 million for Modern Warfare 2. Activision is already investing heavily in Call of Duty beyond this year. Along with Treyarch and a reorganized Infinity Ward, the publisher has established a new studio in Northern California to produce a Call of Duty spinoff game and has others contributing to the series.

Raven Software in Wisconsin, for instance, is working on downloadable content tied to Black Ops. Executives have told investors that a major expansion for Call of Duty is coming soon in East Asia, where online gaming is very popular. deck has really been cleared on Call of Duty and now the moment is Sessler said. question is if they can seize alex.pham@latimes.com ben.fritz@latimes.com Note: Worldwide sales figures from analyst reports. Metacritic scores are derived from multiple reviews.

All scores are for the Xbox 360 version of the game, except for the first Call of Duty title, which was developed as a computer game only. How Activision's blockbuster franchise has fared over the years. Answering the Call of Duty Title Call of Duty Call of Duty 2 Call of Duty 3 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Call of Duty: World at War Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Year released 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Development studio Infinity Ward Infinity Ward Treyarch Infinity Ward Treyarch Infinity Ward Units sold (Millions) 2.5 3.5 6 13 14 20 Metacritic score 91 89 82 94 84 94 Sources: Metacritic.com, Wedbush Securities Los Angeles Times Video game is set during Cold War Treyarch, from give the Burbank studio additional incentive to shoot more in Britain, which offers afilm tax credit of up to on qualified production spending. California also offers a tax credit of up to but it applies only to movies with budgets of less million, which excludes more expensive productions such as the series. The new tax credit has helped slow the emigration of movies and TVshows, but its effectiveness has been hampered by limited resources: The program has exhausted its $100-million allocation for the year.

plans for the British studio include the construction of two new soundstages to house and display much of the memorabilia, sets, costumes and props from the movies, with behind-the- scenes tours for the public. The makeover is expected to be completed in mid-2012 and is expected to preserve an estimated 1,500 jobs and generate an additional 300, including building and specialist contractors. This comes as welcome news to the British film community after months of upset over the dismantling of the U.K. Film Council, which supports the local industry. With the purchase of Leavesden, Time Warner owned Warner Bros.

becomes the only Hollywood studio to own and operate its own production facility in Britain. Upon completion, Warner said, Leavesden will be one of largest studio lots, representing one-third of the dedicated stage space for film production in Britain. Since 2000, Warner Bros. has shot numerous productions at the footstudio built on the site of a former Rolls-Royce factory just outside Watford parts of its recent release as well as Dark and and the Chocolate In addition to employing thousands of people, the investment has attracted close to $3 billion in film production budgets. Britain has long been a popular filming location for big Hollywood productions, including the James Bond movie series and Marvel current filming of the comic book adaptation America: The First Last year, Warner stepped up its investment in the local British film industry, acquiring Shed Media, the producer of and 86 years, Warner Bros.

has been intrinsincally involved in film production in the U.K.,” said Warner Bros. Chief Executive Barry Meyer, noting that the investment our long-term commitment to, and confidence in, the skills and creativity of the U.K. film At its Burbank headquarters, Warner Bros. has 35 soundstages, where it shoots most of its television shows, including and a Half and Big Bang as well as movies such as Hangover Part claudia.eller@latimes.com richard.verrier@ latimes.com Warner Bros. has expansioninmind for British studio Studio, from latimes.com Town For breaking entertainment industry news all day, visit the Company Town blog.

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