14 DAY TRIAL // In some of the weirdest gaming-related news of the start of 2016, the family of Jonas Savimbi, a rebel leader from Angola, is announcing that they are launching a 1 million dollars (890,000 Euro) lawsuit against publisher Activision because of the way the warlord was portrayed in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, a title that was first introduced in 2012.
The children of the rebel leader are quoted by Eurogamer as saying that their father was not the barbarian shown in the narrative created by the team at Treyarch and acted as a capable political leader and military strategist.
In the real world, Jonas Savimbi was one of the leaders of UNITA, an organization that had covert support from the United States to battle the communist government of Angola, which allied itself with both Cuba and the Soviet Union.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 has a complex storyline that spawns two different timelines and has the player deal with the rebel leader during one level, where he is seen telling his forces to take out as many enemies as possible while using a big grenade launcher with one hand.
Activision is saying that his portrayal of Jonas Savimbi is a positive one and is planning to fight against the lawsuit launched by his children.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is a long-term source of problems for the publisher, which fought a legal action initiated by Manuel Noriega, the former dictator of Panama, who also objected to his portrayal in the story and sought damages.
The lawsuit was dismissed by a judge quickly, and the most recent legal claim will probably be met with the same result.
Call of Duty is the biggest franchise Activision publishes
Black Ops 3 was the biggest entertainment launch of last year before the delivery of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and will continue to generate sales for the company through the coming months.
On February 2, the publisher will deliver a new downloadable content pack called Awakening, which will be offered first on the PlayStation 4 and will arrive one month later on the PC and the Xbox One.
Gamers who pick it up will get access to four new maps for the multiplayer mode as well as an extra episode for the zombie-based cooperative experience, with three more DLC deliveries planned for later in 2016.
Treyarch has not said whether it also plans to deliver a major patch for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 at the same time to improve the core mechanics of the first-person shooter.
A new title in the franchise is already in development at Infinity Ward and will be launched on the PC, the Xbox One, and the PlayStation 4 during the fall of this year.
No information about the story of the game or the kinds of new features that will be implemented has been offered, with a reveal set to take place at some point in late spring or right before E3 2016.
Until then, fans can enjoy the Call of Duty World League, with matches featuring the best teams in the world.