Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games from Activision on the way

Nickelodeon and Activision today announced a new worldwide, multiyear deal that will see the Call of Duty company develop and publish at least three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games inspired by the animated series.

As part of the agreement, Activision has secured the global game rights to TMNT. The first game is due out this summer for unspecified platforms.

That Activision is picking up the TMNT franchise is not a total surprise, as the company was last year rumored to be a licensing partner for the franchise.

Activision is the third gaming publisher to try its hand at a Ninja Turtles game. Konami was the brand's first and longest-running publishing partner, with a string of games lasting from the Turtles' NES and arcade games of 1989 to 2005's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare. Ubisoft took over the franchise in 2007, starting with tie-ins for the computer-animated feature film TMNT, and it produced a handful of titles during the following two years.

Nickelodeon's new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series debuted in September, drawing nearly 12 million viewers during its first weekend. The show explores the brotherhood of four teenage turtles (Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael) and their quest to understand the mystery of their existence.

The show airs Saturday mornings on Nickelodeon.