Call of Duty: Black Ops revealed

To nobody's surprise, Activision revealed this week that the next game in their ubiquitous Call of Duty franchise, subtitled Black Ops, will be developed by the folks at Treyarch (Call of Duty 3, Call of Duty: World at War), and will be released this November 9th.

Activision is undoubtedly eager to move forward with the franchise after the highly-publicized fallout with Infinity Ward. Still, there's not too much solid info aside from the teaser trailer (posted below). The heavily-rumored Vietnam setting seems to be present given the clips of jungle environments, although much of the trailer is in a modern-looking medical facility, perhaps hinting that the missions will take place as flashbacks.

According to UK retailer GAME (via Joystiq), Vietnam will not be the only setting as the game is said to cover off-the-records missions in multiple Cold War locations (sound familiar?). The official website also promises a full-fledged reveal coming soon (probably right before E3 in June). We'll have more details as they become available, but catch the teaser below:

Infinity Ward shakeup; Call of Duty brand shuffled

BACKGROUND

Infinity Ward was originally founded after the core team behind the Medal of Honor series left EA because the publisher wanted to milk the franchise. The Los Angeles-based studio has created some of the best first person shooters of the past decade, including Call of Duty, Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Modern Warfare 2. As parent company and publisher Activision has begun capitalizing on the Call of Duty franchise by using multiple studios to develop the games (the other being Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty: World at War developer Treyarch) tensions have risen between them and Infinity Ward. Last year, IW reportedly even refused to let Activision check up on Modern Warfare 2 milestones; the game itself has since become the most succesful entertainment property of all time. In addition, Infinity Ward had negotiated a contract with Activision to retain creative control over post-Vietnam era Call of Duty games as well as secure a go-ahead to develop a new IP.

WHAT'S GOING ON NOW

Reportedly, Activision had suspected Infinity Ward President Jason West and CEO Vince Zampella of engaging in secret talks with a rival publisher (EA has been named in court documents) to leave the Activision-controlled studio and start a new indie house. Earlier this week, West and Zampella had been called into a morning meeting with Activision brass and had been missing for the rest of the day. By nightfall, it had been revealed through Facebook and LinkedIN that West and Zampella had been let go of. Meanwhile, the same day Activision had quietly filed an SEC Report saying that two employees had been found "in breach of contract" and fire for "insubordination" by the publisher.

The following day, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick met first with the remaining Infinity Ward leads, followed by a second meeting with the entire studio. After the meetings, the company released a statement confirming the departure of West and Zampella and revealing the future of the Call of Duty franchise. Per everyone's expectations, this fall will see the release of a new Call of Duty game from Treyarch (rumored to be set in either Vietnam or the greater Cold War). In addition, newly founded Sledgehammer Games (established by former Dead Space boss Glen Schofield) is preparing an "action-adventure" Call of Duty game for 2011. An internal memo also claimed that Infinity Ward was still "central to the franchise" and hints were that the Sledgehammer project was separate from the "main" 2011 Call of Duty (or Modern Warfare) game.

THE FALLOUT

Activision likely wanted to keep cashing in on Infinity Ward and was pushing the studio to either do Modern Warfare 3 or the subscription-based Call of Duty that has been rumored for months already. IW likely pushed back, wanting to move in a new direction, such as developing their promised new IP. Past examples of (proverbially) bloody departures by studio heads usually lead to the departure of several key staff as well, so don't be surprised if people start leaving Infinity Ward once West and Zampella announce what they will do next.

In the mean time, Zampella and West have followed a lawsuit against Activision that has tremendous implications for the Call of Duty and Modern Warfare brands. Firstly, they demand in excess of $36 million of Modern Warfare 2 royalties be paid to them; Activision would have paid these this month if their employment had not been terminated. The pair accuses Activision of themselves "breaching contract" among a few other allegations (read the entire court filing here). They also are seeking to regain control of the Modern Warfare brand, defined as any Call of Duty in the post-Vietnam era. Activision in turn has said they are "disappointed" by the lawsuit, calling it "meritless". It'll likely take some time for the legal process settles this one, but we'll be keeping an eye on the situation and keep you updated on what happens.

New Modern Warfare 2 Trailer!

Infinity Ward has been teasing for a couple weeks that they were going to debut the full-length trailer for Modern Warfare 2 during the NBA Eastern Conference Finals on May 24 (last night). The trailer was a sweet treat during the commercial break of a phenomenal Game 3 that saw the Magic going up on the Cavaliers 2 games to 1. More on the NBA Playoffs later... here is the trailer:

Modern Warfare 2 Gameplay Teased

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 'NBA on TNT' teaser

During Game 4 of the Celtics-Magic playoff series, TNT broadcasted a brief clip of gameplay from Infinity Ward's latest, Modern Warfare 2. A longer look was promised to be aired during the Eastern Conference Finals, but this montage of snippets featured a couple quick looks at snowmobile riding and an underwater section. It'll be interesting to see what IW's come up with for their blockbuster sequel, and it looks like they are getting pretty creative.

Rumors about Call of Duty 7 already surfacing

Call of Duty: World at War has a new map pack coming out in June. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (assuming it still carries the CoD name) is hitting this November. Not content to stop there, publisher Activision-Blizzard is already prepping the next entry in the franchise. 

According to a 1up News report, the 7th main entry in the Call of Duty franchise is under development at Treyarch under the same lead as World at War, Noah Heller. Reportedly, Activision is seeking to license music from Cold War-era locales such as Vietnam, Cuba, Africa, and the Soviet Union. This suggests a Cold War era game (kind of like the flashback Chernobyl sniper level in CoD4), but rather than focusing in one or two locations (such as an obvious choice in Vietnam) the team is looking to feature a broader range of Cold War-related conflicts.

While the concept itself sounds very intriguing, the big picture question for Activision is do they really need to be doing this to such a stellar franchise? Keep in mind this is the publisher that has ruined various franchises by trying to pump too much money out of them (see: Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero). Maybe it would be better served to give the franchise a year off after Modern Warfare 2. Of course, it must be noted that in the official trailer (see below) MW2 does not even bear the "Call of Duty" brand, so maybe Infinity Ward is trying to distance themselves from the franchise for fears of said exploitation.

Either way, you've got to feel bad for those guys at IW since they originally came to Activision with the original Call of Duty to escape the yearly exploits of their Medal of Honor games by Electronic Arts. How ironic then that EA of recent years has shown to be very sensitive to the creative side of game design and has taken very explicit steps to not ruin the long-term potential of various franchises by exploiting them in the short-term. Only time will tell where we go from here, but my money is on the general public getting Call of Duty fatigue after this year's Modern Warfare 2, no matter how intriguing a worldwide Cold War game sounds.

Call of Duty: W@W Map Pack 2 announced

Activision-Blizzard has just announced the latest map pack--simple titled Map Pack 2--for acclaimed shooter Call of Duty: World at War.

Just like Map Pack 1, MP2 will feature 3 new multiplayer maps and one new Nazi Zombie level (Zombie Swamp). From IGN.com:

"The three multiplayer maps include Banzai, a jungle map featuring a waterfall, Corrosion, a beat up train yard, and Sub Pens, a bombed-out sub base. The Zombie map is titled Shi No Zuma -- the Zombie Swamp -- and it features Perk machines, the new Wunderwawffe DG-2 and flaming Hell Hounds." 

Map Pack 2 is currently slated for June, though no specific day was given. It's good to see Treyarch continuing to support their superb shooter even with the future of the franchise already on the horizon.