Activision Blizzard is nothing if not forward thinking. While Modern Warfare 2 is still months away from release, rumors are already swirling about the next Call of Duty game after that, which would be the seventh in the series. According to a "a source we consider reliable," That VideoGame Blog reports (via Destructoid) that Activision has been seeking to license Vietnam War-era music, as well as Cuban, African, and Soviet Union music -- indicating the game could likely be set between the 60's-80's, taking place in any of the aforementioned settings.

Also passed on by this source is that World at War senior producer Noah Heller will be involved with the game, which means Treyarch would once again be at the helm. That VideoGame Blog notes that Heller has previously stated that "we're happy that we put [World War II] to bed" in the last game, further indicating a change in setting for Treyarch's next installment.

While a Call of Duty title set in the Vietnam War would be an obvious guess, the breadth of scope of the music being licensed seems to suggest Activison may be planning a broader scale -- perhaps touching on a number of other proxy wars and conflicts that took place during the Cold War. The Bay of Pigs invasion? Cuban Missile Crisis? Afghan-Soviet War? The era sure seems to offer a lot of grist for Activision's mill.

But as usual, this is just a rumor for now, and Activision responded to Destructoid's request for comment with the usual "Activision doesn't comment on rumor and speculation" reply. Besides, we still have Modern Warfare 2 to play through before we should even have to start speculating about Call of Duty 7, don't we?

Hardly a surprise - but publisher says it isn't resting on its laurels either to grow franchise
No, it's not a shocker: Activision has this evening confirmed that a new Call of Duty title will hit later this year.
The publisher didn't confirm if the game is a sequel to Modern Warfare 2 or, most likely, one of the historical versions of the franchise that visits famous theatres of war.
But what it did say was that while it doesn't necessarily expect the new game to be as big a hit as MW2, it expects further franchise growth in 2010.
The news came as part of an earnings call where Activision announced record 2009 revenues.
"We've consistently grown revenues for the franchise year over year and continue to do that this year," said Mike Griffiths, head of Activision Publishing.

treyarch - fail