Activision registers sci-fi Call of Duty domains

Activision has this week given a hint to the future direction of its Call of Duty franchise with a number of Web domain registrations. The publisher registered callofdutyfuturewarfare.com, along with callofdutyfuturewarfare2.com and callofdutyfuturewarfare3.com on Tuesday, along with a number of variations on that theme.

The publisher also registered several other "warfare" domains without any Call of Duty branding: spacewarfare2.com, spacewarfare3.com, secretwarfare2.com and secretwarfare3.com. Advancedwarfare2.com, and advancedwarfare3.com were also registered at the same time.

Secretwarfare.com is a preexisting domain, currently registered to an address in Norway unconnected with Activision, while spacewarfare.com and futurewarfare.com remain up for grabs. The domain registrations were first spotted by self-proclaimed "information-sleuthing site" Superannuation.

Domain registrations do not always indicate product names, though often they do serve as an indication of future plans. It is known, however, that there are currently at least four more Call of Duty games in development. There is the recently unveiled Call of Duty: Black Ops, being developed World at War studio Treyarch, as well as three as-yet-untitled projects. One is an action adventure title from Sledgehammer Games, another is a project presumed to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 at troubled dev house Infinity Ward, and a third is reportedly in development at Raven Software. There is also a massively multiplayer title in the works in Asia, though a developer has yet to be attached to that project.

Activision outlined its expansion plans for the Call of Duty franchise in March, when a new COD business unit was unveiled shortly after the ousting of Infinity Ward's cofounders. The firing of Jason West and Vince Zampella led to at least 35 other resignations from Infinity Ward, with many key staff jumping ship to the two executives' new studio, Respawn Entertainment.