Call of Duty 2010 'not expected to hit 2009 highs'
But Activision still bullish on hopes, despite expectation of stronger competition than last year
While last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 broke all manner of sales records when it launched, and became Activision Blizzard's third billion-dollar game in the space of two years, the company is not expecting quite the same level of success this year as the franchise swings over to a Treyarch-developed game.
According to publishing boss Mike Griffith, the company has "not planned on repeating the same level of success on this year's title," partly because of tougher competition expected in the run-up to Christmas - but with the rise in exposure to new players of the franchise overall, the company is "bullish" on both performance and quality for the title.
Meanwhile a number of other Activision titles were outlined for calendar 2010 releases, including a Guitar Hero game and DJ Hero 2 - despite a weakening in the music game genre.
Additionally an additional Tony Hawk title is slated for release, utilising the skateboard peripheral, with Griffith admitting that "ratings not as high as we'd hoped for" on last year's game - but he did hint that the peripheral "could potentially have different applications in the future."
Finally, on the Activision business side, new games in the James Bond and Spiderman franchises will follow later this year.