Activision's 09 lineup 40% larger: Call of Duty 'titles' and Guitar Hero 'releases'

Discussing what's in store for Activision Blizzard's 2009 lineup, Activision Publishing boss man Mike Griffith said we should expect a "significant increase in SKUs year over year" – specifically, over 70 retail SKUs representing 40% more than this year. So what's making up this increase? Unsurprisingly Griffith cites "innovative new titles for the Call of Duty franchise" along with "multiple Guitar Hero releases." We're not clear if Griffith means multiple Call of Duty SKUs – an Xbox 360 SKU, a PS3 SKU, etc. – or actual multiple Call of Duty titles; we are clear that he means multiple Guitar Hero games (let's see if they can beat this year's measly four games constituting some dozen-plus SKUs).

Also in the '09 lineup are movie games – including Transformers, Wolverine, Dreamworks' Monsters vs. Aliens, and Ice Age (thanks to that Sierra acquisition) – along with Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, a "followup" James Bond (not tied to a film release), a "newly reinvented" Tony Hawk (which is almost surely being worked on "secretly" by Robomodo), Wolfenstein (finally!), and "a targeted selection of qualified new IPs" including Singularity (as shown at E3), Prototype (thanks, Sierra!), and "the new Bizarre Creation's title which will be [Activision Blizzard's] entry into the racing genre." Of course, there's still one yet-to-be-announced Sierra title that Actiblizzard held on to and we presume a handful of other unannounced games, getting us even closer to that 70 figure.