Call of Duty XP 2011 will be a two-day convention for Call of Duty fans, taking place at a secret location in Los Angeles on September 2-3 with space for more than 6,000 attendees. Tickets will cost $150, with the proceeds going towards helping real war veterans through the Call of Duty Endowment nonprofit which helps former soldiers transition to civilian life, and ticket sales start on July 19th.
The convention itself is the FPS equivalent of the events familiar to a lot of MMO gamers, such as Blizzcon, which is now part of Acitivision Blizzard, and runs for World of Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo fans. But there’s not many conventions that include a real-life paintball version of two Call of Duty maps.
A full scale version of the Scrapyard map from Modern Warfare 2 will be used as a ‘paintball theater’, along with the chance to run through a real-life version of ‘The Pit’ time course. You’ll also get to attend panels and keynotes about Call of Duty, see some ‘triple a’ closing acts, and be among the first to try out the new Call of Duty Elite online service. And of course, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s multiplayer will be revealed. Attendees will get to try out the new Special Ops mode and some new innovations in the traditional multiplayer mode.
More familiar to FPS gatherings is a massive 32-team bracket Call of Duty tournament, which will feature a $1 million prize co-sponsored by Xbox 360. To qualify, you’ll need to compete at regional promotions and competitions, and there will be a ‘select,on-site/at-large qualification’.
Food won’t be included, but you’ll be able to buy supplies at a replica of Burger Town, and browse a Call of Duty armory and museum.
So would you pay for a Call of Duty convention? Or is that something best left to World of Warcraft fans? If you can’t make it, apparently much of the entertainment, keynotes and panels will be streamed online… And do you think they’ll reach the target of 6-7,000 attendees?
Sounds like it could be a good day out. But at that price?!