It has been announced that Sledgehammer Games are developing this year’s Call of Duty title. Sledgehammer Games was originally formed in 2009 by Glen Scofield and Michael Condry from Visceral Games. The studio behind the Dead Space franchise. Sledgehammer helped develop Call of Duty: Modern Wafare 3.

Previously, this franchise has been alternatively devloped by Infinity Ward (Modern Warfare/Ghosts) and Treyarch (World at War/Black Ops). This change gives each game a 3-year development cycle, instead of 2.

Activision explains their reasoning by saying, “There are several advantages in doing this, first is, of course, quality. This will give our designers more time to envision and innovate.” Treyarch will now be releasing their latest iteration in 2015, followed by Infinity Ward in 2016.

Whether we like it or not, Activision will continue to release a Call of Duty game very year. Giving each game an extra time to polish and differentiate itself could lead to higher quality titles. This remains to be seen but this is undoubtedly a wise, first step.