Publisher Activision has confirmed that this year's Call of Duty is in fact Black Ops IIII and that Treyarch is going to be handling development duties.

The name was leaked earlier in the week, and that Treyarch was the studio behind the game is common sense based on the current cycle and line-up of developers.

The publishing giant has said that more information about Black Ops IIII... Nope, Black Ops 4, will be coming on May 17th with a community reveal event. That's corporate PR speak for 'livestream'.

Furthermore, the game is going to be launching on October 12th. That's earlier than Call of Duty normally hits shelves; the shooter franchise typically hits in the first week of November.

Launching in October might be a means of combating competition from EA's own Battlefield - presumably the WWII-styled Battlefield V that is rumoured. There's also the small matter of Red Dead Redemption 2 being released in October, which is no doubt a factor.

Little to nothing is known about what Black Ops 4 will entail, though given the recent appetite for non-sci-fi shooters, it might be somewhat retro in its subject matter. 

We'll know more on May 17th.