If you've been held captive by terrorists on a Naval battleship the last day or so, you may have missed out on the bizarre situation surrounding Infinity Ward and Activision. In summary, it was revealed via their Linkedin profiles that studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella were let go from the company, and a seemingly damaging human resources report which spoke of insubordination and litigation was filed and then posted on Activision's investor website. All the while, there was no official word from Activision about just what exactly was happening. A few moments ago, the company sent out a press release detailing their plans for the future of the Call of Duty franchise and Infinity Ward.

According to the release, Infinity Ward will be taken over by Steve Pierce and Steve Ackerich until a more permanent solution can be found. Both men are high up in the Activision chain of command. As of now, it appears the only casualties from this will be West and Zampella, but sadly, radical changes like this to management usually lead to more cuts down the line. We'll likely not know just what happened here for a long time, especially if any of these events lead to court proceedings. Expect a lot of rumors and heresay in the meantime.

As to the future of the Call of Duty franchise, it was already established that Treyarch would be making the 2010 installment, but everyone always assumed that Infinity Ward would maintain their two-year cycle, and a follow-up to Modern Warfare 2 would be out in 2011. Today we learn that is not the case. Helming the 2011 Call of Duty title will be Sledgehammer Games, a developer founded by Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey. The two men helped create Dead Space at Visceral and EA, which bodes well considering this next little nugget. The as-yet-unnamed game will be an action-adventure title bearing the Call of Duty name. It would seem Activision is looking to expand the brand name beyond first-person shooters.

How these changes will impact either company remains to be seen, but if today's stock trends are any indication, it's going to take a little work to re-establish investor confidence. Consumer confidence, on the other hand, has rarely mattered to Activision, and meddling with one of the most popular developers of the last five years isn't going to win over many more fans. That said, I'm looking forward to where this is all going. Perhaps Activision is looking to innovate in a way they haven't in years, and this unfortunate situation is but one mere step in the process.

You can check out the publisher's full press release below.

Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced new strategic plans for the Call of Duty(R) franchise, one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.

The plans include the formation of a dedicated business unit that will bring together its various new brand initiatives with focused, dedicated resources around the world. The company intends to expand the Call of Duty brand with the same focus seen in its Blizzard(R) Entertainment business unit. This will include a focus on high-margin digital online content and further the brand as the leading action entertainment franchise in new geographies, new genres and with new digital business models.

"2010 will be another important year for the Call of Duty franchise," stated Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing. "In addition to continued catalog sales, new downloadable content from Infinity Ward and a new Call of Duty release, we are excited about the opportunity to bring the franchise to new geographies, genres and players."

The company expects to release a new Call of Duty game from Treyarch this fall. In addition, Infinity Ward is in development on the first two downloadable map packs for Modern Warfare(R) 2 for release in 2010.

The company is also for the first time announcing that a new game in the Call of Duty series is expected to be released in 2011 and that Sledgehammer Games, a newly formed, wholly owned studio, is in development on a Call of Duty game that will extend the franchise into the action-adventure genre. Sledgehammer is helmed by industry veterans Glen A. Schofield and Michael Condrey. Prior to joining Activision Publishing, Schofield was the Executive Producer of the award-winning game, Dead Space and Michael Condrey was the Sr. Development Director on the game. The Dead Space franchise has won more than 80 industry awards worldwide including the prestigious A.I.A.S. Action Game of the Year and two B.A.F.T.A.S.

The Call of Duty business unit will be led by Philip Earl, who currently runs Activision Publishing's Asia Pacific region and previously served in senior executive positions with Procter & Gamble and Nestle. Activision Publishing veterans Steve Pearce, chief technology officer and Steve Ackrich, head of production, will lead Infinity Ward on an interim basis. Jason West and Vince Zampella are no longer with Infinity Ward.

Lastly, Activision Publishing announced that the company is in discussions with a select number of partners to bring the franchise to Asia, one of the fastest growing regions for online multiplayer games in the world.