Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard is looking to further expand the blockbuster series by adding a third development studio to the mix, claims a Los Angeles Times report.

Recent years have seen the company release annual entries by alternating lead development duties between series creator Infinity Ward (Call of Duty, Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2) and Treyarch (Call of Duty 3, Call of Duty: World at War), with external studios n-Space and Rebellion having assisted with Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2 editions.

Activision claims that this year's entry, Modern Warfare 2, represents "the biggest launch in history across all forms of entertainment," with indications that the inevitable next one is being handled by Treyarch and could be set in the Vietnam War era.

The publisher has also repeatedly spoken of a possible Call of Duty-branded massively multiplayer game, with CEO Bobby Kotick pondering how to monetize "the natural evolution of a property like Call of Duty into a massively multiplayer environment" and CFO Thomas Tippl noting "you should expect us to test and ultimately launch additional online monetization models of some our biggest franchises like Call of Duty."

Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith today confirmed that Call of Duty creator Infinity Ward, which most recently handled Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, will return to the franchise next year with Call of Duty 6.

"In 2009, we expect Infinity Ward to deliver another [entry of] ground-breaking quality, Call of Duty 6," Griffith stated at today's Activision Blizzard Analyst Day. Earlier this year, the CEO revealed that a new Call of Duty game would arrive in 2009, but did not offer any other details at the time.

Confusingly, Griffith's presentation today seemed to date CoD 6 for 2010 as well. After discussing Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War, which he referred to as Call of Duty 5, the CEO said that "for calendar year 2010, Infinity Ward is already at work on the next installment in the franchise."

Following publisher Activision's "leapfrog strategy" of alternating developers, Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 6 will follow up Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War, which launches on November 5 for PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PS2, and Wii. Treyarch had also developed Call of Duty 3 as a part of that strategy.

Developer Bungie has "a lot to learn" from Infinity Ward's use of scripted events in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Bungie programmer Damian Isla has admitted.

"[Infinity Ward] did a hell of a job with their set pieces, of scripting certain moments that they were really sure the player was going to actually see and experience first hand," the lead API programmer told GamesIndustry.biz. "Halo has a lot to learn from."

Left, Bungie's Halo 3. Right, Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Though both shooters have many scripted moments, Isla lamented that Halo players often miss them or "don't experience it in quite the same way that we ... Read more

Call of Duty creator Infinity Ward is at work on a new project and may be planning a new original property in addition to its franchise development, company community manager Robert Bowling has revealed.

Alongside an announcement that the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, 360) developer had renewed its contract with longtime publishing partner Activision, Bowling added that work has begun on the company's next project, though he would not specify directly what it might be.

"The recently renegotiated deal may not seem like much of an impact from the outside perspective," Bowling wrote on his blog. "But it has laid the ground work and kick started our future project, as well as the possibility of a unique new IP by Infinity Ward, that we'll have complete control over."

Some have speculated that the terms of the renegotiated deal would guarantee Infinity Ward development rights on the numbered Call of Duty titles, while other... Read more

Addressing rumors that Call of Duty creator Infinity Ward will soon be the sole developer of the hit franchise, publisher and studio owner Activision has labeled the claims as "erroneous."

The reports first emerged from Next-Gen, which cited an ex-employee from Activision's soon-to-be-closed Foster City studio.

According to the source, Infinity Ward had somehow renegotiated its contract with owner Activision to become the sole developer of the Call of Duty property following Call of Duty 5, which is reportedly in the works at Call of Duty 3 developer Treyarch.

This act then supposedly contributed to the upcoming closure of... Read more

The North American console market pulled in $1.18 billion in January 2008, reports sales-tracking firm The NPD Group. Of that figure, $377.8 million was related to video game hardware, with $610.6 million spent on software and $191 million on accessories.

According to NPD, the month's top-selling console titles in North America were:

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward, Activision, X360) - 330, 900
2. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 298,100
3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Vicarious Visions, Activision, Wii) - 239, 600
4. Rock Band Special Edition Bundle (Harmonix, MTV Games, X360) - 183,800
5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Neversoft, Activision, X360) - 182,700
6. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, Wii) - 172,000
7. Burnout Paradise (Criterion, Electronic Arts) - 140,000
8. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward, Activision, PS3) - 140,000
9. Mario Party DS (Nintendo, Nintendo DS) - 138,500
10. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega, Nintendo DS) - 133,000

In terms of revenue, the Xbox 360 version of Harmonix's Rock Band (PS2, PS3, X360) was the month's top performer, bringing in over $30 million thanks to... Read more

During an awards ceremony last night, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences named Infinity Wards' Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, X360) as 2007's Overall Game of the Year. The title also took three other awards: Console Game of the Year, Action Game of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play.

Valve's The Orange Box (PC, PS3, X360) was named Computer Game of the Year, while Outstanding Achievement in Game Design, Game Play Engineering, and Character Performance all went to Portal, one of the three new titles contained within the bundle.

Harmonix's Rock Band (PS2, PS3, X360) was honored as Family Game of the Year along with awards for Outstanding Innovation in both Gaming and Soundtrack. Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) took Handheld... Read more

New figures released in Activision's fiscal third quarter report reveals just how much cash the publisher raked in during the holiday season, as well as new details on its upcoming merger with Vivendi Games.

Activision's report states that net revenue for the third quarter clocked in at a record $1.48 billion, up 80% over figures of $824 million in 2007's holiday season. The company also raised its 2008 fiscal year net revenue outlook from $2.45 billion to $2.65 billion, driven by the industry-wide surge in sales figures and the success of Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

The company also noted that its merger with Vivendi is proceeding as planned, and is currently waiting on clearance from several regulatory commissions and other protocol before the deal can be sealed. Activision anticipates the transaction to be closed in the first half of 2008.

In a conference call earlier today, Activision confirmed that it is planning on new entries in the Guitar Hero, Call of Duty and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance series, as well as a reworking of the long-running Tony Hawk series.

After tallying figures from sales tracking firms across the world, publisher Activision now claims that Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, X360) was 2007's best selling game worldwide.

In all, the game sold in excess of 7 million units, according to data compiled from the NPD Group, Chart Track, and the GFK Group. Incredibly, that figure represents less than two whole months of sales, as the game deployed to stores in early November.

Of the overall figure, North American sales of the Xbox 360 version accounted for 3.04 million. The PC version, meanwhile, only sold 383,000 units at North American retailers, though that number does not include sales made... Read more

Update: The NPD Group has chimed in, attributing the low percentage of PC software sales to the growing shift towards digital distribution, which the firm does not track.

Original Story: Of the $18.85 billion the video game industry generated at North American retailers throughout 2007, only $910.7 million of that, roughly 14%, was attributed to PC games.

Data from the sales-tracking firm NPD reveals that retailers sold 267.8 million games in 2007, 36.4 million of which were PC titles. Console games brought in $6.6 billion, selling 153.9 million units total, while portable software hauled a record $2 billion in revenue with 77.5 million units sold.

Figures were also released highlighting the top ten best-selling PC games of this year, accompanying last week's list of 2007's top ten console games. The numbers, which do not take digital downloads into account, have Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft and EA Maxis' Sims franchises occupying six of the top ten spots. A complete run-down of the top PC games of 2007 follows:... Read more

As had been expected, Infinity Ward had released the mod tools for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The 603mb download includes everything required to make levels, models and mods for the game.

To get people started, Infinity Ward has opened a Wiki with information on using the Call of Duty 4 version of the Radiant level editor. There's also a promise of frequent article additions.

A new feature on MSNBC details the lives of several parents who—in an uncharacteristic display of common sense—actually play games with their children.

A recent poll of parents with gaming children conducted by AOL and the Associated Press show only four in ten play games with their kids. Those featured in the article see games as a worthwhile means of bonding with and educating their children.

"Being a single mother to a son can offer many gaps," says Tammy McCoy, a single mother who games with her 17-year-old son. "Gaming became a way to bridge the gaps—which is what helped to make our bond even stronger."

One parent notes that even prohibiting violent games can lead to a positive outcome. Brian Albright turned a denial of his son's hopes to play Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, X360) into a discussion of the realities of war and the politics and policies surrounding it.

"I think that what he's doing is basically the essence of parenting, which is to say, find a way to have teachable moments. You could have the same sorts of discussions about music lyrics, and you could have the same sorts of discussions about Jamie-Lynn Spears, or drinking on Friday Night Lights," said pediatrician Don Shifrin.

New numbers released by the NPD Group reveal that the Xbox 360 version of Infinity Ward's intense shooter Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare edged out the competition this holiday season, barely beating Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy to become the top selling game in December.

For those interested in how the gift-giving spirit factored into this year's record sales for the industry, the top ten console games for December 2007 follow, in order of units sold:

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward, Activision, X360) - 1.47 million
2. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo EAD Tokyo, Nintendo, Wii) - 1.40 million
3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Neversoft, Activision, PS2) - 1.25 million
4. Wii Play with Remote (Nintendo, Wii) - 1.08 million
5. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft, X360) - 893,000
6. Halo 3 (Bungie, Microsoft Game Studios, X360) - 742,700
7. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (Nintendo, NDS) - 659,500
8. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports, Electronic Arts, PS2) - 655,200
9. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Neversoft, Activision, X360) - 624,600
10. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega Japan, Sega, Wii) - 613,000

Riding a wave of strong software releases and still-fresh hardware offerings, the North American console video game market grew a massive 43 percent in 2007, according to new numbers released today by the NPD Group.

Overall industry sales totaled a record $17.94 billion--compared to 2006's take of $12.53 billion--with software making up $8.64 billion of the pie. The highest-selling games list, which doesn't factor PC software sales into the mix, was unsurprisingly lead by Bungie's Halo 3, followed up by Nintendo's remote-including Wii Play.

The top ten software titles follow, listed in order of units sold:

1. Halo 3 (Bungie, Microsoft Game Studios, X360) - 4.82 million
2. Wii Play with Wii Remote (Nintendo, Wii) - 4.12 million
3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward, Activision, X360) - 3.04 million
4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Neversoft, Activision, PS2) - 2.72 million
5. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo EAD Tokyo, Nintendo, Wii) - 2.52 million
6. Pokemon Diamond Version (Game Freak, Nintendo, NDS) - 2.48 million
7. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports, Electronic Arts, PS2) - 1.90 million
8. Guitar Hero II (Harmonix, Activision, PS2) - 1.89 million
9. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft, X360) - 1.87 million
10. Mario Party 8 (Hudson Soft, Wii) - 1.82 million

Consoles hardware sales topped out at $5.12 billion, with Nintendo again leading the competition. The yearly numbers are as follows, with life-to-date totals... Read more

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, X360) developer Infinity Ward was shocked to discover an unexpectedly high level of piracy in regards to the PC versions of its acclaimed FPS.

After using his blog to reveal that the developer is quite happy with the recent number of PC owners playing the game online, the studio's community relations manager fourzerotwo expressed amazement at how many of those players were running a pirated copy of the game.

"What wasn't fantastic was the percentage of those numbers who were playing on stolen copies of the game on stolen / cracked CD keys of pirated copies (and that was only people playing online)," he posted under the heading "They Wonder Why People Don't Make PC Games Any More."

Renowned development houses id Software and Epic Games chimed in on the matter last year, with both noting that they were pursuing multiplatform development due to piracy of their PC titles. Two of last year's biggest PC titles--Epic's... Read more

Nintendo's plans to dominate the living rooms and exercise schedules of gamers and not-quite-gamers has proven successful in gaming's motherland: The latest Japanese software sales numbers from Media Create show Wii Fit has clawed its way to over a million units sold during the week ending December 30, Gamasutra reported today.

Released on December 1, Wii Fit has sold a grand total of around 1,019,000 units in Japan since launch. Wii Fit is expected to hit North American shelves sometime in early 2008.

Other notable entries in the list include Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on the PS3 and Xbox 360 at number 15 and 22, respectively—not bad given the typically poor performance of Western FPS titles in Japan.

Activision sends along the latest Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare patch, updating Infinity Ward's first person shooter to v1.4. The 70mb download offers more bug fixes and game improvements, improved mod support, and a holiday version of the multiplayer map Crash. ... Read more

Following its announcement of a significantly increased market share and noteworthy fiscal year 2007 performance, Activision has raised its third quarter guidance. The company now predicts it will bring in $1.375 billion during the three month period ending December 31, up from its prior estimate of $1.225 billion.

"We continue to see strong audience excitement for our products and as a result we are again raising our financial outlook for the December quarter and the fiscal year," said Activision CEO Bobby Kotick in the announcement.

In the first 11 months of 2007, Activision increased its market-share to 16.8%, a 7.9% year-over-year increase. The company already raised its sales estimates once based on the $100 million revenues in the first week of Neversoft's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PC, PS2, PS3, Wii, X360) launch.

Sales of Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, X360) bolstered the company's bank account as well, with the game taking the top spot in overall software sales during its November launch month.

In an announcement today, publisher Activision stated it holds the number one home console and handheld video game publisher in the United States from January to November 2007. The company bases its claims on figures from tracking firm NPD, which recently released its latest report.

Activision claims overall market share of 16.8% for that period, a massive year-over-year increase of 7.9%. Meanwhile, chief rival Electronic Arts' market share has waned somewhat in recent years, and its stock prices have grown at a slower rate than Activision's--though EA CEO John Riccitiello recently stated in a conference call that his company will hold 20% market share in North America and Europe during the third and fourth quarters.

Much of Activision's success is due to the astronomical success of the Harmonix-created, now Neversoft-developed, Guitar Hero franchise. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock proved to be the highest-earning title across all platforms; to some extent, the per-unit revenue on Guitar Hero games is increased due to the available packed-in hardware. Another Activision-published title, Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, apparently came in at the number two earnings slot. Meanwhile, the Guitar Hero franchise as a whole is said to be the highest-selling franchise of the year.

Today's announcement is likely to be particularly worrying to EA, since the performance it reports precedes the epic Activision/Vivendi merger that will result in megalithic Activision Blizzard. That newly-formed company is expected to top the industry in total revenues.

A patch making a plethora of tweaks and changes to the online multiplayer in Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, X360) will be arriving on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in December. Infinity Ward's community relations manager made the announcement on the official Xbox forums, and the full list of changes is hosted here.

The playlist changes augment most of the gametypes with additional maps, and all playlist changes apply to both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game. Xbox 360-specific patch updates include improved network performance for larger games, weapon tweaks, and additional spawn locations.

The community manager didn't list the PS3-specific patch updates. The PC version of the game has received three patches since its launch.