Activision Blizzard may create a Call of Duty MMO, the Los Angeles Times said Wednesday.

*"*One person close to the company said it also was considering adapting Call of Duty as a massively multi-player online world," Times reporter Ben Fritz wrote in a story on Modern Warfare 2's launch.

The impulse makes tons of sense. Activsion has already made a record-breaking $550 million since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launched on November 10. What company wouldn't be tempted to add a monthly revenue stream to the flood of money flowing from the franchise, especially when said company already owns and operates World of Warcraft?

The Times also said that the game publisher is adding a third studio to the Call of Duty roster, to generate even more games under the brand.

Activision Blizzard has the cash, resources and experience to make something like this work. And we all know the company isn't afraid of milking a franchise.

Then again, just to keep ourselves grounded here, what company hasn't at least pondered the notion of turning its most valuable franchises into MMOs? The monthly millions brought in by Warcraft have surely inspired execs to float the idea around a meeting room.

But the massive initial investment, long development time and potential for failure surely has a chilling effect. Even Activision Blizzard must think twice about the risks here.

Besides, a good part of Modern Warfare's appeal is that the devoted can get hundreds of hours of play out of the game for $60. Additional fees might take the bloom off of that particular rose.

Modern Warfare 2's Hollywood-scale launch [LA Times]

Image courtesy Activision

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