In a recent earnings conference call, which swiftly followed the announcement of strong fiscal year and Q4 financial results, Activision was ready to talk a bit more about the games scheduled for release during fiscal 2009 which ends March 31st, 2009. Make the jump for the latest on Call of Duty 5, Guitar Hero, the next Tony Hawk iteration, and the company’s first James Bond title.

After pointing out that the life-to-date sales of the Guitar Hero series stand at 19 million “versus only three million from our only competitor” (read: Rock Band), the company chairman and CEO, Bobby Kotick, reiterated that fiscal 2009 will see the release of three new Guitar Hero titles – Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero IV, and the yet-to-be-unveiled new installment. When asked whether other peripherals would be added to the series further down the road, Activision Publishing president and CEO Mike Griffin spoke up, saying that the franchise is “extremely expandable,” and also revealed that we’ll know more about the next main entry (most likely Guitar Hero IV) within a couple of weeks.

Guitar Hero III

The company then put a spotlight on the Call of Duty franchise and reconfirmed that a new entry is in development for this fiscal year. Fans who feared the series would revisit the World War II setting can breathe a sigh of relief, as Activision debunked the rumours by stating that Call of Duty 5 is set in “a new military theater.” Before moving on, it was said that the company’s first James Bond game will be powered by Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty 4 engine and will release alongside the upcoming James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, this Fall.

Following Activision’s reassuring comments with regard to the future of the Tony Hawk franchise back in February, like “we need to step up innovation,” Griffith stated that the firm is “inventing Tony from the ground up.” Unlike Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground which was churned out only a year after the release of Project 8 in November 2006, the next console iteration in the series won’t be out until April 2009 at the earliest. Griffith feels pretty confident that the title in question will bring the franchise back on its feet:

“For competitive reasons we’re not going to talk about it today, but we’re very bullish on the kind of innovation it will bring, and it won’t be your father’s Tony Hawk.”

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground

There you go! Now comment away in the usual place about the future of Activision’s key franchises.

Thanks to Voyager2k for submitting.

Source: Gamasutra