Activision announced today that the next entry into the Call of Duty series will launch in time for this holiday season, with CEO Bobby Kotick hinting at a World-of-Warcraft style subscription service.

Few details have been revealed about the new Call of Dutytitle, although Kotaku reports that Kotick sees the potential in generating even more revenue by emulating the successful subscription model from the likes of World of Warcraft. "If you think about the successes we have had in other categories on subscriptions, you can get a sense of the direction we want to take that franchise," said Kotick.

Joining a seemingly growing trend to “annualise” lucrative franchises, it’s not official yet as to whether Infinity Ward (the studio behind the Modern Warfare titles) or Treyarch (the studio behind Call of Duty 3 and World at War) will take the helm. However, the good word and intelligent guess is that it’s Treyarch’s turn at the plate this time around.

The announcement was made on the back of Activision’s revenue earnings for quarter four of last year; reportedly some US$1.56 billion. Not surprisingly, the lion’s share of this figure can be attributed to its holiday blockbuster Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which also constitutes the biggest entertainment launch in history. What is surprising, on the other hand, is that DJ Hero, another Q4 release for Activision, is reportedly the highest grossing new gaming IP in all of 2009.