The next iteration in the Call of Duty franchise, Modern Warfare 3, is still three months out from hitting retail shelves - but that hasn't prevented eager first person shooter fans from wondering what's next for the series. While the biennial turn-around for Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare installments seems like a sure-bet these days, Treyarch's period-piece Call of Duty games, such as last year's Black Ops, tend to be shrouded in a bit more mystery - considering they're not locked into one time period (and subsequently have more room to explore various war scenarios).

That said, if one perceptive gamer is to be believed, we might already have a bit of insight into what's next for Treyarch - specifically a working title for their next game, Call of Duty: Iron Wolf.

Obviously it's not a surprise to hear that Treyarch is hard at work on another Call of Duty game, given that the overarching series has been annualized, but if the "Iron Wolf" (or possibly "Project Iron Wolf") subtitle is valid, even as a working title, the name has potential implications for what fans can expect from the next title.

The report seems to have first appeared over at the Se7enSins forum - where one lone 360 player, who has a few Treyarch developers on his friends list, saw one of the devs playing Team Deathmatch on an unknown map in a game titled "Iron Wolf" (which sports a Terminator 2 game pic for now). The tipster checked a few of the other Treyarch profiles and discovered more than one of them were also playing the unannounced title. Then he took photos to corroborate the discovery.

Check out a few of the photos below:

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As mentioned in the title of this post (rumor patrol in affect), until something more official is announced it's hard to imagine that the next Treyarch title will actually be called Call of Duty: Iron Wolf - but, assuming the images are accurate, the "Iron Wolf" designation (even as working title) has intriguing implications.

Astute fans of the series, who actually attempt to follow the franchise story canon (instead of just pointing and shooting at enemies), will remember that Red Army leader Viktor Reznov was known as the "The Wolf." Players got a taste of Reznov's story in Call of Duty: World at War as well as Call of Duty: Black Ops (where Reznov was also playable for a time). If Treyarch were to use the character as either the player-character, or a focus of the story, in their next Call of Duty title, there'd be plenty of narrative potential to draw from - considering the vast gaps in the especially shady character's various appearances. Not to mention, rumors that the next Treyarch game would be a prequel or sequel to Black Ops.

Additionally, while the Reznov's fate appears pretty certain (though still intentionally ambiguous) by the end of Black Ops, Treyarch's inclusion of what has come to be known as the "Maverick Code" (named after the first guy to crack the hidden message) definitely corroborates the possibility that the character still has a part to play in the larger story of wartime deception that the studio has been building throughout their Call of Duty games (much like Captain John Price in the Modern Warfare series).

You can check out the Maverick Code video below (though, if you've yet to complete Black Ops some of the info will contain MAJOR SPOILERS for the title):

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLZlfHGo-Ro

Of course, any connection between a Viktor Reznov spin-off and the alleged "Iron Wolf" image is purely speculation at this point. The images could be a hoax or, even if the "Iron Wolf" images are real, could just be a fun (but totally nondescript) nod to one of the team's favorite characters.

Either way, Treyarch is no doubt already hard at work on their next, unannounced, Call of Duty game "Iron Wolf" or not. In the meantime, prepare for more Black Ops map packs (next up: Rezurrection) and make sure to check out our coverage of the other Call of Duty series, Modern Warfare for a look at the new Spec-Ops Survival trailer (currently sans Nazi zombies).

Follow me on Twitter @ benkendrick.

Expect a new Call of Duty title from Treyarch in November 2012.

Source: Se7enSins forum