Activision has brought in none other than Grammy Award-winning headbangers Metallica to appear at a Call of Duty: Black Ops launch event taking place on November 4.
Call of Duty: Black Ops doesn’t actually come out for another week but Activision is starting the ball rolling a little early with a launch event at Santa Monica Airport’s Hangar 8. The event will be a tribute to all six branches of the U.S. military, raise $1 million for the Call of Duty Endowment and feature a performance by the award-winning band Metallica.
“We are honored to have Metallica partner with us to pay tribute to the brave servicemen and women who have risked their lives at war only to return home to find their biggest challenge is searching for a job,” said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. “Today, the unemployment rate for veterans is 21 percent higher than the rate for all Americans, with veterans’ unemployment topping 500,000. We believe that the business community can and should do more.”
Activision established the Call of Duty Endowment in November 2009 to mark the launch of Modern Warfare 2, creating the million-dollar foundation to “support other groups that assist veterans with their careers.” Say what you will about Bobby Kotick, the obvious benefits for Activision of appealing directly to soldiers and veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and even how Metallica hasn’t been cool since 1998, but it was a pretty classy move and the publisher’s continued support of veterans is admirable.
Members of the Metallica Club can win a pair of tickets to the launch event by checking out the link at MetClub.com. Call of Duty: Black Ops comes out on November 9 for the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and DS.
