In an interview with Develop Online, Treyarch developers Mark Lamia and Josh Olin have been speaking about the competition they face with the release of the 7th Call of Duty title, Black Ops, this November. Lamia admitted that he "hadn't seen any of it", when asked on EA's First Person Shooter Medal of Honor, which some see as Black Ops's closest rival. However, he did say that none of the competition has anything to do with what we are creating.”

Josh Olin added The competition is going to be great this year, between Medal of Honor and Halo: Reach – there’s a lot of great competition this year especially in the shooter market.” When asked if Treyarch considers Bungie to be their main competition, he replied “I think so yeah, it’s a first-person shooter, they’re all competitive." Again re-enforcing Lamia's stand, he added “But it doesn’t matter. Honestly, what we’re making is our game, and I don’t think Black Ops is going to be anything like their [EA studios’, Bungie’s] games.”

So it seems Treyarch are firmly set on their own projects. I'm sure they're secretly watching for developments in both Medal of Honor, and Halo: Reach, but I think Xbox owners will have a tricky decision to make, when faced with a choice between Black Ops and the final Bungie title in the Halo series. None the less, I'm 100% confident Black Ops will sell in titanic quantities.