Microsoft-Activision lawsuit reveals release date for next Call of Duty

The attempts at blocking the long-delayed Microsoft-Activision merger lawsuit have revealed a potential Call of Duty release date for this year. An appeal filed by Microsoft against the attempted merger lawsuit showcased a number of new tidbits about the year-long process for merger approval. In its response to a lower court's denial of preliminary injunction is a particularly notable line from the company.

"The next title in the Call of Duty series (the series which each Plaintiff focuses on as important to him) is not expected to be released until November." This example of Microsoft adhering to and following "contractual commitments" to PlayStation about Call of Duty's future on Sony hardware.

Expected to be the third Modern Warfare game in the franchise, the next Call of Duty and its release date is still somewhat up in the air. While legalese from Microsoft lawyer's indicates an expected release date, it's far from the only information out in the open. This includes leaks reported by GGRecon on remasters of classic maps, including Terminal and Scrapyard.

It's important to note that the release of this new Call of Duty may or may not be contingent on a potential Microsoft-Activision merger. If the game's existence is worth mentioning by name in the filed court response, one could assume this means Microsoft wants all of its ducks in a proverbial row before an announced release.

Does this mean a potential delay for the next Call of Duty and missing that November release date? The Summer Game Fest has come and gone without a whiff of info about Modern Warfare III, so who knows? The ongoing tiff between Microsoft and Sony might expose more dirty laundry in the future.

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