EA and Activision seem to be reading from the exact same marketing playbook for the next installments in their war FPS titles, Medal of Honor and Call of Duty: Black Ops. With Activision having already paired up with Eminem as the headliner for the Black Ops soundtrack, EA has now allied with an equally past-its-prime musical act for Medal of Honor, due for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 release on October 12th.
With the band’s new album, A Thousand Suns, on the way, Linkin Park is lending its first single, “The Catalyst,” to EA as the lead song for the Medal of Honor soundtrack. A teaser trailer with a preview of the song has already been released (and is embedded above), with a full music video directed by the band’s Joe Hahn to be debuted on August 1st at www.medalofhonor.com/linkinpark. The single will then hit radio airwaves and iTunes the following day.
“Medal of Honor marks the beginning of an innovative new relationship between EA and Linkin Park,” said Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive, Music and Music Marketing, EA. “I’ve personally known the band since 1999, and they have always been an intensely creative group who understand the power of videogames and have wanted to explore and expand the medium’s possibilities. ‘The Catalyst’ is one of the most anticipated tracks of the year, and the combination of this new song and Joe Hahn’s distinctive visual dynamic re-sets the bar in our commitment to bringing together landmark EA games with artists whose talents go far beyond music.”
“This is a unique, creative association for us and a collaboration that we are excited about,” said Joe Hahn, trailer director and DJ for Linkin Park. “The opportunity to help introduce “The Catalyst” via the new Medal of Honor game creates a new bond between EA, our fans, and the band’s overall vision for the new digital frontier. We are enormously proud of the music on A Thousand Suns and are excited to have created an exclusive trailer around the lead track.”