Activision prepping 'Bloodhunt,' trademarks 'Sledgehammer Games'

The past 24 hours have seen the headlines hogged by incendiary comments made by Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. However, the subsequent uproar has drowned out two other developments that may shine light on both a new Activision game and a new Activision studio.

Yesterday, the Australian Classification Board listed a game called "Bloodhunt" being published by Activision Blizzard. Though the developer was not listed, the filing did reveal that the game will be multiplatform and rated MA 15+ for mature audiences 15 and over.

Meanwhile, last week in the US, Activision filed a trademark for the title "Sledgehammer Games" for use with "computer game software and related instruction manual sold together as a unit; interactive video game programs; computer game discs; [and] downloadable computer game software."

Though no further details are given about what kind of label Sledgehammer Games will be, there is a likely suspect--Activision's currently unnamed San Francisco Bay Area studio. Shortly after the shop's existence was revealed via a job listing, the publisher hired away two top executives from the similarly macho-monikered Visceral Games, Electronic Arts' Dead Space and Dante's Inferno studio.

Requests for clarification about Bloodhunt and Sledgehammer games sent to US and Australian Activision reps had not been answered as of press time.