Activision will churn out another Call of Duty installment this year

Game publisher Activision Blizzard's CFO Dennis Durkin recently confirmed that the Call of Duty franchise will get a new installment in 2013. During the company's earnings call for Q4, 2012, Durkin stated the new game will "raise the bar even higher." The company’s most recent Call of Duty installment, Black Ops 2, grossed $1 billion in the first fortnight after its release. This propelled the company's fourth quarter results to a record net revenue of $1.77 billion, compared with $1.41 billion for the fourth quarter of 2011.

Who wants more CoD?

"We are very pleased to report that Activision Blizzard delivered the best performance in its history," Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said. "As we look to 2013, we will continue to invest in our established franchises, as well as several new properties. We expect these investments to drive our growth over the long term and to enable us to deliver superior returns to our shareholders in the years to come."

Late last year, signs of a DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops II popped up showing five maps—Hydro, Die Rise, Grind, Downhill and Mirage—and a new bonus weapon, the Peacekeeper SMG. Four of the five maps seem to be regular multiplayer maps, while the fifth one, Die Rise, seems to be a map for Black Ops II's Zombies mode.

The DLC was first released on the Xbox 360 on January 29 this year. Among the new maps, Grind is a giant skate park with close-combat areas, while Downhill has much more room than Grind and some sniping opportunities, and is also the only snow map seen in the game. Mirage is a sandy map, as the name suggests, and there seem to be no distinguishable features in this map. Again, the sandy terraces in the desert offer plenty of options for snipers. Zombie fans can also enjoy Turned. The new game mode allows gamers to play as the living dead. The DLC will come to other platforms within the quarter.

At the earnings call, Durkin noted that in the short term, 2013 will likely fall below the company's record-setting 2012 performance due to economic downturn, the "ongoing console transition" and the success of Diablo III, which was the best-selling PC game at retail with more than 12 million copies sold.

The company is understandably uncertain about what 2013 will bring with regards to console gaming. As it stands, Sony and Microsoft have yet to officially announce their next-gen console systems, although numerous reports hint at a possible 2013 retail debut.