14 DAY TRIAL // Call of Duty: Black Ops, the new first person shooter from developer Treyarch and publisher Activision Blizzard, has just been released but rumors are already starting to pop up about what kind of video games the series might receive during next year.
The speculation comes after a Activision financial report session during which high profile executives confirmed that the publisher is planning to put out a Call of Duty during the second half of 2011, without mentioning the genre of the game or who is in charge of developing it.
And now sources are telling Gamasutra that the next Call of Duty title will actually be set at some point in the future and will feature armed forces engaged in battles in actual space, closing in on territory historically occupied by the Halo franchise.
The rumors can be corroborated with statements from Thomas Tippl, the Chief Operations Officer at Activision, who said that the new game will “broaden the audience” for the Call of Duty franchise while Glen Schofield, who is the leader of Sledgehammer Games, aims to create an experience which is “unique”.
Call of Duty had its roots in World War II and gained a lot more of an audience when it made the move to modern conflicts under the guiding hand of Infinity Ward.
This year Treyarch is again moving the historical setting, moving the action to the Cold War era and taking the player to Cuba, Russia, the Arctic and Vietnam in Black Ops.
A move to a more future bound setting and to space could make sense for the franchise as long as another studio also delivers another Call of Duty branded experience with recognizable modern elements.
With the new Call of Duty video game set to arrive in late 2011 on store shelves official announcement from Activision could start coming at the beginning of 2011, with significant presentations set for the 2011 edition of the E3 trade show.