Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is an upcoming first-person shooter video game set to be released in November 2011[citation needed]. It will be the eighth installment in the Call of Duty series. Due to a legal dispute between the game's publisher Activision and the former co-executives of Infinity Ward - which caused several lay-offs and departures within the company[1] - Sledgehammer Games will assist in the development of the singleplayer, and Raven Software will develop the multiplayer.[2] The game is said to have been in development since only two weeks after the release of their previous game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.[2] Sledgehammer is aiming for a "bug free" first outing in the Call of Duty franchise, which also sets a goal for Metacritic review scores above 95 percent.[3]
The UK Official PlayStation Magazine has lent credence to speculation that Modern Warfare 3 will be a prequel starring fan favourite character Ghost. The mag's informants strengthen a rumor which first reared its head online early in January 2011. On the Rumor Machine page in its latest issue (055), OPM points to ""insider whispers" which suggest: "Infinity Ward's next Modern Warfare title will be a prequel, with Ghost in the lead role.

Few things excite the masses like an announcement of a new video game.

According to a report in the LA Times, a third installment in the Modern Warfare series is set to be released in November 2011. Sources are unnamed but they are cited as being people who are “in the know.”

The LA Times article says that Infinity Ward, the creator of the Call of Duty series, has teamed with developer Sledgehammer Games to help finish Modern Warfare 3 by the end of this year. Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer, with the direction of Activision, are believed to be collaborating on the single-player platform. Raven Software is believed to be working on multi-player platforms.

The relationship between Activision and Infinity Ward has been a turbulent one, to put it simply. A round of firings at Infinity Ward last March caused concern in the gaming community that they may not be able keep up with annual release schedules. However, they have proven otherwise with the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops, which was the best selling game of 2010, though many in the gaming community consider it a disappointment. I personally think 2009′s outshines Black Ops with fundamentally better game play.

Looking forward, Sledgehammer seems to be a savvy group of FPS (first-person shooter) developers. Combined with the dedication of Infinity Ward, I predict they will make the November deadline complete with incessant ad campaigns and a lot of buzz about Modern Warfare 3.