Getting their start with the series in 2005 with Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, Treyarch truly stepped into the spotlight with Call of Duty 3 in 2006. Receiving merely average reviews, the team couldn't quite capture the magic of Call of Duty 2. When Infinity Ward reinvented the series in 2007 with CoD 4, fans expected Treyarch's follow-up to continue on in the same vein as the early games in the series, and World at War's WWII setting enhanced that perception. WaW certainly trumped CoD 3, but couldn't quite hit the heights that IW turned out every two years.

2010 opened with the firing of IW leaders Jason West and Vince Zampella. With the future of the series' founding studio uncertain, Treyarch released Call of Duty: Black Ops, break Modern Warfare 2's sales records-- making it clear that the studio was no longer the "B-team." As far as most of the world was concerned Black Ops was as much a Call of Duty game as Modern Warfare. The next year began with Sledgehammer Games canceling or delaying their own game to help the weakened IW and almost every other Activision FPSs studio finish Modern Warfare 3 -- which couldn't quite match the critical reception of their last two titles.

With IW publicly partnering with other studios and Treyarch coming fresh off of the success of their last title, 2012's CoD game -- most likely called Black Ops 2 -- will be the studio's first chance to own the series in the eyes of fans and critics in the same way IW once did. Before 2012 the coming of every new series entry from Treyarch came with the presumed caveat in the minds of fans that as good as they game might be, it simply can't reach the same level as an IW CoD game. The wild success of Black Ops came as a surprise to perhaps everyone by Treyarch themselves. Free of the presumption that the studio can't rival IW, Treyarch now find themselves free to use innovation to shape Black Ops 2 and the Call of Duty series going forward.

MW3 should mark the end of the current iteration of CoD. The fundamental mechanics have reached a point where the law of diminishing returns makes further honing of extant gameplay systems a poor investment -- reworked perks and kill streaks can only wow an audience so many times. Black Ops 2 could significantly shape the future of a series that needs change but has every reason to stay the same. The ever increasing commercial success of the series won't come to an end this year, and a safe, conservative CoD game could certainly exceed MW3's records if paired with the right setting and marketing. However, Treyarch has demonstrated an increase in confidence and talent with each iteration, and Black Ops 2 represents the best chance the studio has had in seven years to make the series its own.