Announced today, Johanna Faries is taking the General Manager of Call of Duty role, while also maintaining leadership of the Activision Blizzard eSports leagues.  Faries new role is effective immediately, taking over for previous General Manager Byron Beede. Beede is departing the company after 19 years.

So what does General Manager for Call of Duty do? Faries will have managerial oversight for the entire Call of Duty franchise, including live operations elements. Interestingly enough, at this time, Faries will also continue to oversee all league and team business related to the Activision Blizzard eSports leagues, which includes other games like Overwatch.

Faries comes from a background with the National Football League where she spent 12 years prior to joining Activision Blizzard, and has a number of other celebrated distinctions including one of Fortune's coveted 40 under 40 designations as a most influential business leader. 

Johanna Faries

"Since joining Activision Blizzard, I’ve had the opportunity of a lifetime to set a new and dynamic  vision for Call of Duty eSports alongside an incredibly talented team of colleagues, players, owners, and partners. In the process, I’ve been on the front lines of the Call of Duty franchise, working closely with our studio and marketing teams to deliver breakthrough experiences for players and fans the world over," says Faries. "Call of Duty has made an immeasurable impact on the world of gaming and entertainment and is a bona fide cultural phenomenon. I can’t wait to help usher the franchise into its next chapter, and to continue to unlock the power that Call of Duty holds for the future of competitive entertainment."

Call of Duty remains one of the most powerful gaming brands today, commanding tremendous sales in both units sold and within the realm of digital monetization and cosmetics. With Season 3 in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone hitting for the core audience and Call of Duty: Mobile continuing to effectively bring the franchise to an entirely new platform, things don't look like they're slowing down for Call of Duty anytime soon. That's sort of been how the ball has been rolling for years, but it's always interesting to see what's coming next from their myriad studios, annual releases, and now living games with offerings like the free-to-play battle royale Warzone.

Check out our reviews for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone. Over the years, I've found comment sections regarding Call of Duty to be particularly divisive. Inevitably every year, there are numerous divided factions that argue that the game never changes and it's the same each release, while still another argues that the series has changed too much. What direction do you think Call of Duty should go next? Let us know in the comments!

The Last of Us TV series from HBO has landed two new directors found with Jasmila Žbanić (Aida) and Ali Abbasi (Border). The pair joins Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann. 

The upcoming TV series based on the Naughty Dog franchise is set to take place around the events in the first game. Under the umbrella of Sony Pictures Television, Word Games, The Mighty Mint, and Naughty Dog itself, the HBO show itself will honor the first game without being a carbon copy. Given that the games themselves artfully intertwine combat and narrative cutscenes aplenty, seeing this in a television format is pretty easy to imagine. 

As far as the cast goes, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D actor Gabriel Luna will be playing the part of Joel's younger brother, Tommy. As for Joel himself, The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal is set to play the lead role alongside Game of Thrones' actress Bella Ramsey. 

According to recent reports from CBC Canada, the upcoming The Last of Us TV series is getting ready to begin filming in Calgary on July 5, 2021. The anticipated wrap-up date is projected to end around June 8, 2022.

While we don't have the full cast yet, or a trailer to go off of, we do know that it will feature original content alongside the already-known storyline from the game that made us fall in love with Ellie and Joel to begin with. "We talked at length that season 1 of The Last of Us series is going to be the first game," Druckmann revealed in a previous interview. "As far as the superficial things, like should a character wear the same plaid shirt or the same red shirt? They might or might not appear in it; that’s way less important to us than getting the core of who these people are and the core of their journey. Things sometimes stay pretty close. It’s funny to see my dialogue there from the games in HBO scripts. And sometimes they deviate greatly to much better effect because we are dealing with a different medium."

For those that may have some lingering concerns that this original content will mean a complete retcon of the game's canon, don't be. According to a previous interview with Druckmann, the creator and writer of The Last of Us, Mazin has a "deep understanding" of the world that this studio has crafted, including both titles and its DLC. 

What are your thoughts so far about the upcoming The Last of Us TV series? What other casting decisions would you like to see announced next? Sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below! 

[Source: Deadline]