How many development companies does it take to meet a deadline? Three, apparently...

It all gets a little confusing at times, but let's try and simplify the information as best we can. Call of Duty 1 and 2 were developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. During that time, all was well and everyone was happy. However, when Call of Duty 3 came to fruition back in 2006, Activision decided to give the series a fresh new angle and so Treyarch were given the development contract. Since then it has been back and forth between Infinity Ward and Treyarch, with each company developing Activision's Call of Duty every other year. As it stands, the latest release in the franchise, Call of Duty: Black Ops, was created by Treyarch, so 2011's release falls upon Infinity Ward once more. Phew.

Now that's cleared up, let's get to the news. According to sources cited by the Los Angeles Times, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is proving so difficult to produce that Activision have had to bring in two other development companies to help Infinity Ward finish it ahead of its supposed November 2011 release. Apparently, Infinity Ward will work on the singleplayer game alongside Sledgehammer Games - headed by Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, both of whom used to work for Visceral Games, who in turn are best known for Dead Space - while the multiplayer campaign will be headed solely by Raven Software.

Despite this rather confusing setup, Activision have assured both press and gamers alike that Modern Warfare 3 is at an advanced stage of development and remains on target to meet its November release date. However, one has to question what is going on behind the scenes. Shortly after the release of Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward heads Vince Zampella and Jason West both resigned from their positions and created a new studio, Respawn, which currently publishes games for Activision's rivals Electronic Arts. To date, this decision and move has been plagued with controversy, with many speculating that Zampella and West had jumped ship so as to avoid sinking.

However, as Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) best said ,"The mother of all evil is speculation" - so we will stick to the facts. Either way, it will be interesting to see what this trio can come up with as, whether they like to admit it or not, Black Ops and Treyarch have certainly risen the bar.

Game Planet

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