Activision Blizzard will release new games in the Call of Duty first-person shooter series in 2010 and 2011, plus a game that takes the series into the action-adventure genre, it said Tuesday.
The details of the blockbuster war-game franchise follow the shocking news that Jason West and Vince Zampella, the top execs at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward, were ousted from the company. Activision confirmed the pair’s departure today but did not give any further details, although it said that two “Activision publishing veterans” would be placed in control of Infinity Ward.
This year’s Call of Duty will be produced by Treyarch, the team responsible for 2008’s Call of Duty: World at War (pictured above). The action-adventure game will be produced by new Activision unit Sledgehammer Games, formed by former Electronic Arts developers who created Dead Space.
Activision also said that it will form a dedicated Call of Duty business unit that will oversee the franchise much in the same way that Blizzard Entertainment handles its products. Tuesday’s press release says that the company will pursue “new digital business models” and “high-margin digital online content,” which sounds like that Call of Duty MMO we keep hearing about.
Activision Confirms Departures, Announces 2 Call of Duty Games | GameLife | Wired.com
