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The Call of Duty franchise continues to soar. Activision announced today that the shooter series has now cleared 300 million copies sold since it debuted back in 2003.

For comparison, the Pokemon franchise passed 300 million copies sold after the release of Ultra Sun and Moon back in 2017. Meanwhile, the Sonic the Hedgehog series reached 350 million copies a few years ago. Exact numbers for other franchises are tougher to track down.

The Call of Duty series premiered in 2003 with Infinity Ward’s World War II shooter Call of Duty. No mainline Call of Duty game was released in 2004, but a new entry has launched every year since, with development shifting around between Activision-owned studios like Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer Games, with support from other owned studios like Raven Software and High Moon, among others.

Activision has not provided a breakdown of sales by individual title or brand, but the Black Ops and Modern Warfare brands are believed to be the most successful.

The next Call of Duty game is launching later this year, and it’s rumoured to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 from Infinity Ward, which created the brand. The game will be announced in the coming months. On top of that, a new Call of Duty mobile game from Tencent is coming.

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After Paramount and Sega unveiled the first official trailer for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie, fans of the blue blur took to the internet to complain about the film’s design of the titular hero. In response, Sonic the Hedgehog director Jeff Fowler announced Sonic will undergo a redesign ahead of the movie’s release.

“Thank you for the support,” Fowler tweeted. “And the criticism. The message is loud and clear… you aren’t happy with the design and you want changes. It’s going to happen. Everyone at Paramount and Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be.” Fowler did not clarify what this redesign would entail, nor if the effort to do so will push Sonic the Hedgehog past its scheduled November 19 release date.

Criticism for Sonic’s design in the movie has been aimed at pretty much every part of the speedy blue hedgehog. Most of the dislike seems to stem from the movie version’s legs, torso, teeth, and eyes. Most of the changes to Sonic’s design in the coming movie currently make him appear uncannily human, which some fans have found unnerving. Most likely, the planned redesign will make Sonic look closer to his original cartoonish appearance.

Sonic the Hedgehog sees Sonic partner up with a state trooper to stop Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik, a mad scientist and skilled roboticist working with the government to uncover the secrets of the blur blur. In the movie’s trailer, we see the sassy Robotnik devise contraptions to capture Sonic, only for the mad scientist to become more deranged as the hedgehog continues to escape as a result of his super speed.

In the movie, Sonic is voiced by Ben Schwartz, a seasoned actor who’s been seen on Parks and Recreation and House of Lies, and also voiced characters in the new Duck Tales Show and BoJack Horseman. Dr. Robotnik is played by Jim Carry, an actor well known for portraying that exact archetype in numerous films throughout his career. In an interview, Carry said, “I made sure that there are some winks and nods, and edgy things that are still acceptable to [all] age groups.”

2019’s Call of Duty game from developer Infinity Ward is rumoured to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Whatever it is, the game will be announced in the coming months.

During the Activision Blizzard earnings call today, management confirmed that the game will be revealed before the end of the current fiscal quarter, which means it’ll be announced before June 30. That makes sense, given new Call of Duty games are typically announced in May before getting shown off further at E3 in June. This year could be different in a way, however. Activision typically showcases the new Call of Duty game during Sony’s E3 briefing due to its exclusive content deal, but that won’t happen this year because Sony isn’t attending E3.

On the earnings call, Activision management says it feels “incredibly good” about how the new Call of Duty title is shaping up, and they’re excited to finally reveal it eventually.

Not only that, but Activision boss Coddy Johnson teased that Activision plans to support the game’s release with even more content after launch to keep players engaged.

“We need to do even more to maintain the breadth of our Call of Duty player base beyond the launch quarters,” he said. “The Call of Duty team is hard at work on that for this fall’s big content release, excitement for which is incredibly high around the organisation. We expect that both the launch and the post launch will bring game-changing experiences to our fans.”

Activision is able to create more content for this year’s Call of Duty game because it’s increasing development headcount across the board, including the Call of Duty team. Activision announced it was increasing aggregate headcount for its development teams by about 20 percent following its layoff of 800 people primarily from non-game development roles.

Little is known about the title, but Activision previously said the game will feature a campaign mode. That’s notable because 2018’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 did not include a campaign but instead added a battle royale mode called Blackout.

Additionally, it was confirmed that the Call of Duty series has sold more than 300 million copies since it premiered back in 2003.

Also on the call, Activision said interest in the new Call of Duty mobile game from Tencent is high; the game has more than 10 million pre-registrations on Google Play.

Actor Peter Mayhew, who is best known for his portrayal of Chewbacca in the Star Wars series, has passed away. Mayhew died on April 30 in his home in North Texas, USA. He was 74.

His passing was announced by his family in a statement posted to Twitter. After the news broke, tributes poured in. Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill said, “He was the gentlest of giants-A big man with an even bigger heart who never failed to make me smile & a loyal friend who I loved dearly-I’m grateful for the memories we shared & I’m a better man for just having known him.” Harrison Ford, who played Han Solo opposite Mayhew’s Chewbacca, told The Hollywood Reporter, “Peter Mayhew was a kind and gentle man, possessed of great dignity and noble character. These aspects of his own personality, plus his wit and grace, he brought to Chewbacca. We were partners in film and friends in life for over 30 years and I loved him. He invested his soul in the character and brought great pleasure to the Star Wars audience.”

A number of other actors and celebrities connected to Star Wars and otherwise have responded to the news. Scroll down to see their responses.

Mayhew played Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith and The Force Awakens in a role shared by Joonas Suotamo. Mayhew did consulting work for The Last Jedi to help Suotamo feel capable in the role.

Outside of his film career, Mayhew did a lot of charitable work for groups like Wounded Warriors, Make-A-Wish, and the 501st Legion. He also created his own Peter Mayhew Foundation that supports individuals and families in need.

Mayhew is survived by his wife, Angie, and three children. “His kindness, generosity, and care will live on in the Peter Mayhew Foundation with Angie taking the helm as his voice,” his family said in their statement.

Mayhew’s first big movie role was in 1977’s “Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger,” which was released in the same year as A New Hope.

Xbox One players have two more games they can now play on their console. Microsoft’s director of programming for Xbox Live, Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb, took to Twitter to announce that the Xbox One now supports two more Xbox 360 titles via backward compatibility.

Both Team Ninja’s Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge and RedLynx’s Trials Evolution join Xbox One’s forever-growing backward compatibility list. These titles are available to download starting today.

Developed by Team Ninja for the PS3, Wii U, and Xbox 360, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge is an enhanced Ninja Gaiden 3 port that includes the original DLC, as well as a variety of performance enhancements and improvements. Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge released nearly a year after the initial game’s March 2012 release date and brought alongside a host of changes like increasing the speed of kunai climbing, introducing new weapons like the lunar staff and kusarigama, improving enemy AI, and more.

Trials Evolution was developed by RedLynx. Released for the Xbox 360 in April 2012 before speeding to iOS and PC in 2013, Trials Evolution–the fourth mainline entry in the Trials franchise–tasks you with facing and overcoming a variety of motorcycle trials in a bid to claim the top spot on the leaderboards. Trials Evolution includes two course editors (Lite and Pro) that allow you to create and share courses online.

In our Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge review, we called the update “a welcome gesture, and one that makes for an improved action game–yet a hundred small fixes are no substitute for a game built from the ground up to be a challenging, fluid, and fulfilling action extravaganza.”

In our Trials Evolution review, we said it’s “a great game that not only tests your skill and patience, but keeps you laughing at the ridiculous scenarios.”