The dawning of the next generation of consoles puts Activision's once-mammoth Call of Duty series in a precarious place. The studio's answer seems to be segmenting the series even further, handing development off to a third developer - the relative newcomers at California-based Sledgehammer Games. 

The studio entered the Activision fold around four years ago with the goal of developing a third-person CoD action game, but that fell through and they were soon reduced to helping roles on Modern Warfare 3 and Black Ops 2 map packs. Seems Sledgehammer's got their time in the spotlight at last, though, as Activision revealed that 2014's CoD would be handled by the studio.

Call of Duty's sales numbers may be dwindling, but the series is far from dead. Although Grand Theft Auto V sold vastly more copies than last Novembers Call of Duty: Ghosts, the CoD series still holds the title of top-selling franchise in North America thanks to Black Ops 2, which moved strong numbers during sales and after the 2012 holidays. 

The addition of Sledgehammer to the fold allows each dev three years to make a new game. Hopefully those years will count, Call of Duty will evolve in some meaningful ways, and each developer will be able to put their own unique stamp on the series.