There have been more reports that this year's Call of Duty will be a return to the Black Ops sub-series with, um, Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII. No, that's not a typo. Yes, it probably should be IV.

Word comes via Eurogamer that Black Ops 4 is being made by series creator Treyarch, following rumours from self-proclaimed industry insider Marcus Sellars, who said earlier this year that the game would be coming to PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

Kotaku has independently verified the information, adding into the mix a tweet, featuring a video of basketball superstar James Harden (below) dressed in camo and a cap featuring what appears to be the game's logo. The site says it has verified that this is indeed the game's logo.

Yep, that's the aforementioned 'IIII' 'Roman numeral', making it clear that neither Treyarch nor Activision understands how Roman numerals work. We're betting that this will pop in the game's marketing as 'the four pillars of Black Ops' or something. 

The Black Ops franchise is among the most popular of the Call of Duty games, with Black Ops II being big with the online community long after its release. This was also where the series' relationship with the pro-gaming and esports community began.

2015's Black Ops III was met with a mixed reception. It remains to be seen how it will gel with the more grounded combat introduced with 2017's WWII, but Black Ops has been set from every point from the Vietnam War to the far future, so it stands to reason Treyarch will figure it out.

The Beard has arrived, and he's ready for battle with the Thunder. pic.twitter.com/ky3E8TK9Hy

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 7, 2018