French site claims Black Ops 2 reveal led to blacklisting

17 Feb 2012 at 20:44:55 by Peter Parrish

Update:

Activision has since responded, claiming that it "doesn't blacklist journalists".

Original Story:

French videogaming site gameblog.fr is reporting that it has been blacklisted by Activision after revealing a listing for Call of Duty Black Ops 2 on the French version of Amazon (offending image shown above). The interesting story here isn't so much Black Ops 2, as it's inevitable that some form of Call of Duty will be released this year, and the Amazon listing may have been in error. Of far more interest is Activision's response to the story, and gameblog.fr's refusal to back down.

Through the magic of google's translation abilities, you can read the gameblog piece about the blacklisting here. In essence, it says that Activision contacted the site by phone and email, demanding that the original piece about a possible Black Ops 2 be taken down. When the site refused, Activision reportedly informed them not to show up at a press event for Transformers: The Fall of Cybertron and stated that no further review copies or advertising deals would be forthcoming from the publisher.

If what gameblog.fr is claiming is true, it represents yet another attempt by major publishers to control information through intimidation.

Adding some weight to the Black Ops 2 rumour is Activision's purchase of the domain blackops2.com earlier in the year. However, the company may have just been covering its bases and preventing other parties getting hold of the name.

[Update]: Another French site, xboxygen.com, also claims to have been threatened with blacklisting by Activision, after posting an Amazon.fr email to customers offering pre-orders for Black Ops 2.

Source: neogaf.com

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