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  Blog > Leipzig Games Convention ’08 Recap!

We're finally back from Leipzig, Germany, and all caught up on sleep. It was a long and busy week, but boy was it a blast! I wanted to take the time to wrap up the events that went down, and fill you in on what's to come.





This year, the Games Convention broke records. With over 203,000 attendees in total, and upwards of 85,000 in a single day at its peak, we were proud to have been a part of it. Also something to be proud of was our line; we had one of the longest lines in the entire convention, except maybe for our sister company, Blizzard. At one point, our line stretched all the way around our booth and back to the exit door!





At the Call of Duty: World at War booth we were showing off 4-player hands-on co-op from one of our single player campaign levels, "Hard Landing." It takes place on the island of Peleliu; a Japanese island the Marines thought would take a few days to conquer, that wound up taking over two months. While the US Marines sustained 2,000 casualties, the Imperial Japanese lost almost all of their 10,000 solider garrison.





Our mission is led by Sgt. Roebuck, voiced by Kiefer Sutherland (best known for his role as "Jack Bauer" in the TV series, "24"). Additionally at GC '08 we revealed Gary Oldman would be voicing one of our main Russian characters, Sgt. Reznov. You may recognize Oldman from his roles in blockbuster hits such as "The Dark Knight", "Air Force One", "The Professional", and "The Fifth Element." Both actors have been awesome to work with, and really bring that extra level of depth to their respective characters, which is crucial to driving our story arch.





What was the overall fan reaction? They loved it! Not many of the attendees knew what they'd be seeing when they got to the front of the line, and when they realized they'd be playing 4-player co-op on either the PC or the Xbox 360, the anticipation grew. The testimonials that followed after they played reflected that excitement =).





I was on the show floor with a camera crew interviewing some of the fans before and after they played the game, and hope to have the video up on CallOfDuty.com shortly. It was really great to hear the reactions from the gamers. It was also a great sign to hear some skeptics who were waiting in line change their tune after playing; some fans were wondering why we were returning to WWII, whether the co-op gameplay would be strong, etc. Afterwards, however, just smiling faces and fun experiences!





I think it goes without saying it was an awesome Games Convention this year. Be sure to search the other popular gaming sites for their interpretations of CoD:WW as well as all the other fantastic games at the convention. Rest assured, we'll have more details hitting in the coming weeks and months leading up to the release of CoD:WW, so check back here frequently for more updates!





Regards,

-JD