Sixty-five years after the end of World War II, the conflict seems to have lost its attraction for video-game developers.
Storied video-game franchises such as "Medal of Honor," "Battlefield" and "Brothers in Arms" seem to have either died off or turned to modern settings after producing more than 20 games set in the battles of World War II's six years.
The most recent "Battlefield" game had a modern setting, and so does the next "Medal of Honor" title. And after four successful World War II-based games, it looks as if "Call of Duty" is giving up altogether on that era.
Activision has been flying high on the business of turning armed conflict into entertainment for nearly a decade, pumping out tremendously successful "Call of Duty" games every year since 2003.
The publisher manages the seemingly impossible, releasing a game that takes nearly two years to make annually, by hot-swapping developers, cycling the popular series between the game's originators Infinity Ward and developers Treyarch.
Last year's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" was developed by Infinity Ward. This year's "Call of Duty: Black Ops" comes from Treyarch.
It will be the first "Call of Duty" game that Treyarch has made not set in World War II. Instead, the upcoming "Black Ops" will take place in the 1960s and '70s, taking gamers through the secretive, often unbelievable, birth of modern unconventional warfare.
Dan Bunting, senior producer at Treyarch, says the transition from creating a game of war based on World War II to one that explores the Cold War sparked an "explosion of creativity" inside the studio.