14 DAY TRIAL // Activision Blizzard has confirmed that an all-new digital platform, which will include social networking aspects, will be included in the next Call of Duty video game, which is set to be launched during the fall of this year.
The new digital platform is being created by the new studio Beachhead, which was previously rumored to be working on an online-oriented project, with fans suggesting that it might be a new MMO first-person shooter based around the Call of Duty brand.
Eric Hirshberg, who is the chief executive officer of Activision Publishing, has told investors in a Question & Answer session, that the new platform will be “an integral part to the innovation signature of the Call of Duty game that we're releasing this year.”
He also clearly said that Activision is interested in adding a new layer to the Call of Duty experience of the players, but that the new digital platform will not cost the gamer any money.
Bobby Kotick, who is the president of Activision Blizzard, has added, “Our community of Call of Duty players is one that we celebrate, and you will see a lot of new services and capabilities that will be provided free-of-charge to all of our customers.”
The same Kotick has been widely quoted in the last years as saying that Call of Duty had a huge online potential and that his company planned to exploit in the near future.
Presumably the development of a Call of Duty MMO is already going on somewhere deep inside Activision, with an announcement coming late this year or in early 2012.
Activision plans to launch a new Call of Duty in the fall, supporting all major gaming platforms, supposedly including the Nintendo 3DS and the upcoming PlayStation Portable 2 from Sony.
The publisher says that it plans to launch the biggest marketing and retail campaign in its history in order to support the launch.