As part of a new series to keep things interesting, and get you the latest gaming news, every Friday I will be writing a quick summary of the week’s gaming related events and stories.

First off on today’s post is news that Ubisoft is working on a follow up to their popular Assassin’s Creed game (which sold over 5 million copies worldwide).  Rumor has it that Ubisoft is planning on a release sometime in Q4 of 2009, but we’ll have to wait for more official details (and a trailer!).

Discuss Assassin’s Creed 2 in the Forums

Next on the list of news events this week follows Microsoft’s announcement that they are planning 5,000 job cuts, after missing analyst expectations.  From early reports, the department hit the hardest seems to be Microsoft’s ACES Studio, responsible for the Flight Simulator line of games, as well as Train Simulator, and a new “Visual Simulation Platform”.  Rumors have it that most if not all of the ACES staff has been let go, and things are looking grim for the future of one of the longest running game franchises.

More bad news on the gaming front as early reports show that EA has cut the majority of it’s staff at Black Box Studios.  Black Box was responsible for the development of the Need for Speed racing games, as well as the Skate franchise.  More official details should become available in February at EA’s next earnings call.

Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena – Trailer

How about some good news?  Atari put out a new trailer for their upcoming Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena game.  We get to see some of the new environment, as well as a sample of the up close and personal action in this sequel planned for a late March release.

Well, that’s all for now.  Stay tuned next Friday for another issue of Around the World in Gaming.

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Blizzard Entertainment today announced the release of Wrath of the Lich King, the second expansion to its award-winning MMO, World of Warcraft. The game opens the forbidding wasteland of Northrend to exploration and features higher character levels, new dungeons and encounters, a new character profession, and the game’s first hero class: The Death Knight.

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Activision is sending out new invites to the Call of Duty World at War Beta to members of the call of duty site.  To sign up simply register at callofduty.com or go to http://www.callofduty.com/beta

Oh, and here are the details:

The Multiplayer Beta for Xbox 360™* is live! In order to participate, you will need to sign up as a CallofDuty.com member. U.S. gamers can also pre-order Call of Duty: World At War at any GameStop retail location and online at gamestop.com (while supplies last) to get your beta code.

The PC Beta is coming up next! Stay close to CallofDuty.com and check your email for details soon to come!

Through the Multiplayer Beta, players will experience Call of Duty: World at War’s new multiplayer features including:

• Addictive class-based multiplayer action
• Vehicle combat
• Persistent stats
• Player rankings
• Upgradeable weapons
• Squad-based gameplay
• Customizable classes and Perks

The full battle will commence on November 11, 2008 (November 14th for Europe) when Call of Duty: World at War is released to retailers nationwide!

Directions to participate in the Xbox 360 Demo Multiplayer Beta:

1. Receive your Xbox Live™ Marketplace Token and write it down. You will not be able to download the Beta without it
2. Log into Xbox Live with your gamer profile
3. Access Xbox Live Marketplace through the Xbox 360™ Dashboard
4. Click Redeem Code
5. Enter your Xbox Live Marketplace Token when prompted

Note: Canceling the download or turning off your Xbox 360 during the download will permanently void the token

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