14 DAY TRIAL // A new job listing from developer Raven suggests that the studio could be the fourth one that is working on the Call of Duty franchise for publisher Activision Blizzard, joining long-running creators at Infinity Ward and Treyarch and the new comers at Sledgehammer Games.
The link to Call of Duty comes with a job listing saying that the company is “seeking a lead visual effects artist to drive the development of stunning visual effects for an established console-based, realistic, first-person military shooter.”
When one thinks of console-based, realistic first-person shooters, the main thing which pops up is Call of Duty, the main revenue source for Activision, the actual owner of Raven.
Of course there's also the possibility that Raven is working on some wholly original intellectual property, but given the commercial performance of its latest release, Singularity, that's unlikely.
There's also a chance that the company is working on a sequel for Singularity, expanding its mix of traditional gunplay and time-based special powers.
Other possible projects for Raven include a sequel for X-Men Origins and a new title based around the Bond gaming franchise.
Activision has already confirmed that it is preparing to release a new Call of Duty game during this year, probably at some point in the fall, but has not elaborated on the genre of the game or on the studio that is creating it.
Infinity Ward has been rumored to work on a prequel for the series which will focus on the apparently indestructible character of Ghost.
Sledgehammer Games, a studio made up of some of the people that delivered the original Dead Space for Electronic Arts, is also said to be working on Call of Duty, on a game which adopts a third-person perspective.
First Strike, the first map pack for Black Ops, is set to arrive exclusively on the Xbox 360 on February 1.