When Mountain Dew partnered with Activision on Sledgehammer Games and Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, the division of PepsiCo had no idea how popular it would become. Over 1.5 million consumers have participated in the Double XP program. Gamers are averaging somewhere in the ballpark of five to eight codes per participant. Mountain Dew’s Andrea Foote outlines the success in the exclusive video below from the Mountain Dew Mega Fan Experience at Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

According to new data from Raptr that measures playtime across its 10 million member gamer network, the Call of Duty franchise still dominates the first-person shooter market, despite EA’s major effort to challenge that position with the Battlefield franchise.  Based on automatically tracked gameplay data, Raptr users logged an average of 40% more playtime in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on Xbox 360 than Battlefield 3 on the respective games’ launch days, despite unprecedented gamer enthusiasm and a significant marketing push for the launch of Battlefield 3.

LOS ANGELES -- The second annual 3D Gaming Summit: Gaming and Beyond expanded its scope to include fast-growing segments of the games industry like cloud gaming, mobile gaming social gaming, and the impact augmented reality will have on games moving forward. Highlights of the jam-packed one day conference included an Opening Keynote Interview by David Maisel, Senior Advisor to Rovio creator Angry Birds, conducted by John Gaudiosi, Gaming Summit Senior Content Advisor & Co-Founder of Gamerlive.tv; and a Featured Interview with Vince Zampella, (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare) General Manger of Respawn Entertainment, conducted by USA Today's Video Game Editor Mike Snider.

LOS ANGELES – At Call of Duty XP 2011, Activision debuted the world premiere of Find Makarov: Operation Kingfish. The short film is a sequel by filmmakers from digital agency We Can Pretend and visual effects company The Junction. Set between the events of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2, the film tracks the origin story for soldiers Soap and Price. The sequel was funded by Activision, after the original became an Internet sensation and the game maker Infinity Ward loved what they saw from the passion project. See what Activision funding adds to fan filmmaking in the video below.

As the world celebrates the biggest game franchise at Call of Duty XP in Los Angeles, Valve is making it easier for gamers to access the PC version of the latest installment. PC gamers will be able to download Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 through Steam this fall. Valve confirmed that the new game from Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games will be able to use the Steamworks suite of services. Pre-purchase reservations are now available via Steam, which has over 30 million accounts around the world.

Activision is already manufacturing millions of copies of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Hardened Edition cases. The first picture of the new game was revealed by Infinity Ward. Full details on what will be packed inside the over-sized case will be revealed in September at Activision’s Call of Duty XP event in Los Angeles. Modern Warfare 3 ships November 8.

Because Blizzcon just wasn't enough for them, Activision has announced a new fan-specific event for Call of Duty, set to take place in early September in Los Angeles.  It'll feature a number of events based around the mega-popular first person shooter franchise...but one has to wonder if it's really needed.

LOS ANGELES – If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Activision is sticking with what works at E3 2011, focusing on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and its companion online service, Call of Duty Eliteat its booth. The game maker also has new Marvel video games for Spider-Man and X-Men fans, as well as Prototype 2 for core gamers. And for the kids, there’s Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures (video shown below).

The world’s most passionate online gaming community can now connect, compete and improve their Call of Duty multiplayer experience through Activision’s innovative new online service, Call of Duty Elite.  Developed from the ground up by Activision’s new Beachhead studio, Call of Duty Elite offers cutting-edge features that significantly enhance the franchises’ multiplayer experience and deliver a new level of social engagement that will unite more than 30 million players worldwide. Additionally, the service will offer exclusive, high-production value, original entertainment programming designed exclusively for the Call of Duty community. Activision will have both Call of Duty: Elite and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 at E3 2011 in Los Angeles.

Although gamers will have to wait until November to pick up Electronic Arts’ answer to Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise, DICE is offering an early look at Battlefield 3. This intense video walkthrough of the game gives players an idea of what the new game engine technology is bringing to the table for one of the big games of 2011.

Electronic Arts is giving players a chance to play one of the big games of 2010, Medal of Honor, on PC early with the Multiplayer Open Beta. Starting on October 4, the Open Beta will allow players an opportunity to sample Medal of Honor’s rich multiplayer mode before the full game launches on October 12. For a limited time, PC gamers worldwide are invited to sample two diverse maps and two action-packed multiplayer modes. The Medal of Honor Multiplayer Open Beta will close on October 7 at 11:59pm PST. Check out this video on the multiplayer below.

SAN FRANCISCO, California -- Electronic Arts-owned DICE has been a master of creating virtual battlefields for gamers to engage in. The latest effort, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, introduces new online gameplay options that should excite veteran gamers and help enlist new virtual recruits. At a recent press event in San Francisco, Patrick Bach, senior producer of the new game, took some time away from the controller to talk about the new PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game’s online and multiplayer options in this exclusive interview.