Activision talks future of Call of Duty, Guitar Hero franchises @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on May 07, 2010

News: Infinity Ward is working on a new Call of Duty. But it might be a long time before we see it.

Activision held their quarterly financial briefing yesterday and in addition to talking about their ridiculous profits (take that, Wall Street!), company executives laid out the future of the Call of Duty series and the Guitar Hero/DJ Hero franchise.

Speaking publicly about Infinity Ward for the first time, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick expressed confidence in the remaining members of the development team saying, "We have a great place and a great team in place at Infinity Ward." He also implied that the company has no plans to dissolve Infinity Ward as he confirmed the developer is working on the second Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 map pack and an "unannounced project."

Activision COO Thomas Tippl would later say, "Infinity Ward is working on a Call of Duty title." As the publisher has already announced a 2011 release for Call of Duty 8, it may be a long time before we see something from the new Infinity Ward. That said, Tippl also revealed that Treyarch has taken up the Call of Duty mantle in a big way with Call of Duty: Black Ops:

[W]e expect November 9 will be our biggest launch of the year with Call of Duty: Black Ops. Last Friday, we reveal first details regarding the highly anticipated game developed by our Treyarch studio. This year's title, Black Ops, represents the first time that the entire 200-plus people at the Treyarch studio had been focused exclusively on one single game with teams dedicated to creating single player and co-op modes, multiplayer game play and DLC.

Tippl also talked about the future of Activision's "Hero" games, reconfirming that Guitar Hero 6 and DJ Hero 2 will be released this Fall. The publisher plans to pack each game with "more great original music, new and innovative gameplay modes and a significantly enhanced social gameplay experience." Downloadable content is also planned for both titles. How that differs from previous "Hero" games will probably be announced at E3.

The previously announced Band Hero 2 went unmentioned by Tippl, likely foretelling a hiatus for the Guitar Hero's "family friendly" little brother.

We'll have more soon.