14 DAY TRIAL // The text for a career opportunity on the official site of Raven Software offers evidence that the developer is involved in the development of a new Call of Duty video game, although it’s not clear whether it's the title that will be delivered in 2012 or one that is just starting the production process.
The job ad reads, “Raven Software, developer of numerous award-winning games, including contributions to the blockbuster Call of Duty series is seeking passionate designers to join an established team at work on a first-person shooter.”
There are other vacant positions that talk about first-person shooter development, but none of them specifically mentions the Call of Duty franchise.
In May 2010 rumors appeared that Raven Software, which was working on yet another Bond video game, was taken off that project in order to provide assistance for Treyarch in the development of the Call of Duty: Black Ops map packs.
Since then job ads from Raven have repeatedly mentioned first-person shooters and, given the performance of new property Singularity, it's pretty sure that the company is now creating a sequel.
Rumors from inside the company talked about them working on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, but neither Raven nor Activision confirmed what its stable of FPS developers is working on.
Publisher Activision has said that it is continuing to create Call of Duty games, with one slated to be launched in the fall of this year, and the company also suggested that it is abandoning all new intellectual property that is not performing well at retail.
The biggest competition for any new entry in the series that dominated first-person shooter in both 2009 and 2010 will be Battlefield 3 from DICE and Electronic Arts, a game that will use the new Frostbite 2 engine to bring destructibility to a whole new level.