Wondering what happened to the number "5" trailing Call of Duty and preceding World at War? Senior producer Noah Heller offered some insight into its absence, saying, "We're getting rid of the number in Call of Duty for a very specific reason: It's because we want you to know that when you're playing Call of Duty: World at War you're playing the best shooter, the best WW2 game ever. Likewise when you're playing Modern Warfare, likewise when you play any game that will be called Call of Duty."

Now, a handful of us have tried to parse that quote and, no matter which angle we take, it proves elusive. Is he saying that Modern Warfare didn't have a number in the title (because the game's box clearly says otherwise)? Is he saying that future Call of Duty installments, including whatever Infinity Ward is presumably working on, will also be sans number? Or perhaps, as rumored, Infinity Ward has renegotiated their relationship with the flagship title and any numbered sequels (all future sequels?) will be saved for them to develop?

We've sent our own inquiry into Activision for some clarification. We'll let you know what it throws back.

We know this runs the risk of sounding like a bad game of Telephone, but here it goes: We heard from Next Gen that they heard from an ex-Activision employee (who was formerly part of Underground) that they heard that Call of Duty 4 developers Infinity Ward recently renegotiated its contract with parent company Activision. Aside from finally getting casual Fridays and that margarita machine that Debbie in accounts receivable has been asking about, IW also reportedly got the right to be the exclusive developer of all things Call of Duty.

If true, that would edge out Treyarch (which made the 3rd numbered game in the series) after they complete work on the CoD game that they're unofficially working on. With as much love as IW put into the excellent CoD 4, we can totally understand why they don't want Uncle Treyarch to babysit the series every other weekend. But, as we've pointed out, this is just hearsay at the moment. We'll let you know if we hear something official.

Update: Activision has responded, describing the rumor as "erroneous information regarding the CoD franchise."

Treyarch, the development team behind Spider-Man 3 and Call of Duty 3, recently put up a job listing for a Call of Duty level designer, presumably for the fifth game in the series (which Treyarch is reportedly working on). However, a bit of text in the listing may reveal the direction which Treyarch is taking Call of Duty 5 -- and from the looks of things, that direction is backwards.

The listing says that applicants would be well-served by being "a fan of World War II shooters," causing some to believe that the game will take place during the WWII era. We've seen less logical rumors come through the mill, but we still can't help but scoff at this gossip. Who would want to play a game based on WWII? What's a war game without AC-130 gunships and guided anti-tank missiles? We'll tell you - it's boring. We'll take futuristic weaponry over rich cultural heritage any day of the week.

[Via Voodoo Extreme]

Activision's biggest pre-merger franchises are all (GASP!) getting sequel treatment. In a fact sheet concerning the Activision Blizzard deal (PDF file), the publisher lists Guitar Hero 4, Call of Duty 5, a new Tony Hawk title (which would be its 11th iteration), a James Bond game and a racing title with the recently-acquired Bizarre Creations, as well as licensed titles with Dreamworks and Marvel.

None of these sequels come as a surprise, as they are all critical and commercial successes, but this is the first official confirmation of their existence. According to Activision Blizzard's earlier conference call, 50% of Activision's revenues are derived from franchises it owns outright, including Guitar Hero and Call of Duty. It should be noted that as well that all three franchises also have competition from rival Electronic Arts in the form of Rock Band, Medal of Honor and Skate. No word on project release dates for any of the sequels.

Read - Fact sheet [Warning: PDF file]