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8:09 AM on 3/3/2010 by Nick Puleo

In a follow up to a story we posted yesterday, Activision has confirmed that they have let studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella go from Call of Duty development house Infinity Ward.  In the investor press release Activision also made a surprise announcement, a new Call of Duty game would be coming in 2011.  Not surprised?  What if I told you it wasn't a first person shooter.

By all accounts it appears Activision wants to extend the Call of Duty brand to other genres, and up first is an Action/Adventure title by brand new studio Sledgehammer Games.  Sledgehammer Games was founded when studio leads Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey left Visceral Games, who created the popular original Dead Space game.

So what does this mean for co-op gamers?  Not much yet.  Action/Adventure games like Uncharted 2 aren't exactly known for their ability to have a seamless co-op experience, but in a series like Call of Duty, co-op just feels natural.  The original Dead Space did have co-op, though it didn't make the final cut, so it's not something the team at Sledgehammer is completely shy about.

Despite the shakeup at Infinity Ward, Activision has stated that the studio is still the "central focus of the Call of Duty franchise."  We're still set to see two map packs this year developed by IW for the game's multiplayer, at least we assume it's multiplayer.  We'd sure love to get some more Spec-Ops.   

Update: For more on Sledgehammer Games check out the recent interview with studio head Glen Schoefield over at Colony of Gamers.

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