Activision hasn’t said a lot about Black Ops 2—indeed, Activision hasn’t even officially confirmed the name of the game, though it seems like the logical choice considering that Treyarch is the developer and the original Black Ops was such a big success—one which was left open ended and ready for a sequel.

One of the big questions about the game has of course been what month we’ll see it released. We know the game will come out this year, because we’re used to seeing a new Call of Duty game hit the shelves every year, and this year it’s Treyarch’s turn. What we don’t have is an official release date for the game. Recently however a European retailer called FNAC listed a release date for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for November of this year.

Neither Treyarch nor Activision has commented on the release date listed by FNAC, so there is no way to know whether the date has any true significance or not. It’s possible that the page for the game is just a placeholder on the site right now, and that neither the title of the game as listed nor the release date are accurate. November would be a sensible time to release the game though since that would lead straight into the holiday season, which is always a huge time for video games. Then again, that could also be why FNAC might have chosen it as a placeholder by default. So we can’t get too excited yet—and actually, we can remain hopeful the game could still come out earlier. After all, November is the second to last month the game could possibly be released so as not to break with the annual release schedule. Meanwhile, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 continues to entertain us with monthly downloadable content!

The biggest rumor about Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, is, of course, its very existence. There’s no reason not to assume Black Ops 2 is coming though—after all, we get a new Call of Duty game every year, and Infinity Ward and Treyarch trade off development duties year after year. Since we’re coming back around to Treyarch, that means it’s time for the next Black Oops game. We can add to this the fact that Activision recently acquired the Black Ops 2 web domain name. This could be for brand protection reasons, but the logical assessment is probably that they want the domain name for use later this year.

The next rumor to look into is whether Black Ops 2 will be released on Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4. The rumor comes from a job ad which was posted to Treyarch’s website. The ad states, “Treyarch is seeking a Senior Platform Engineer for a position on the team bringing our hugely successful game to a new console.” Both Microsoft and Sony seem adamant though that they aren’t planning to release the new consoles anytime this year. With that in mind, it seems pretty unlikely that Black Ops 2 will be released on the next generation consoles.

The other rumor we’ve heard as far as consoles are concerned is that Black Ops 2 will be released for Wii U and PS Vita. Now, this rumor makes a lot more sense than the previous one. PS Vita already is out, after all, and Wii U is due out by the end of 2012. Activision’s Bobby Kotick is a fan of both consoles, so there is plenty of reason to expect we’ll see Black Ops 2 released for both.

The last rumor we’ll consider is the rumor that the game will pick up where its predecessor left off. Since there has only been one Black Ops title in the Call of Duty line, this makes sense. It makes even more sense considering how many loose ends weren’t tied up in the previous game. For example, did Mason assassinate Kennedy? This is just one of many questions which were left unanswered by Call of Duty: Black Ops, and which could be answered in Black Ops 2. There is still a lot of ground to cover, and wrapping up the original game storylines could be a perfect setup for a new Black Ops storyline.

Even though we’re all pretty busy raising our stats on Modern Warfare 3 right now, we’re also already excited about the next release in the Call of Duty franchise. At this point we don’t know much of anything about the next game in the franchise—except that it will almost certainly be awesome, since that’s what Call of Duty is. But one thing we can now place a guess on is the title of the next game. We’re starting to suspect that the name of the next game may be Black Ops 2.

Why Black Ops 2? Not only is it a logical choice for a follow-up to Call of Duty: Black Ops, but Activision also recently registered a Black Ops 2 domain. This can mean one of two things. Either Activision is trying to protect its brand by scooping up the URL, or Activision has purchased this brand with the intention of eventually making it the official website for the next Call of Duty game. If so, that game will almost certainly be called Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Even though Modern Warfare 3 shattered sales records last year, Black Ops still sold more copies in 2011. So this direction would make sense for Activision!

Recently a member of the se7ensins forum released screenshots which showed a Treyarch game developer playing an unknown game called Iron Wolf. Since no game titled Iron Wolf has been announced anywhere, it seems more than likely that this is a game under development by Treyarch—and after the smashing success of Black Ops, not to mention Modern Warfare 3, what would make more sense than to start working on developing Black Ops 2? Previous Call of Duty installments have smashed sales records, and the next Black Ops game is sure to do the same. Furthermore, the screenshots indicate clearly that this is a first person shooter game, which would seem to lend even more credence to the Black Ops 2 theory.

Modern Warfare 3 also had a codename while developers were working on it, which was Project Colossus. It would seem to follow that Call of Duty Black Ops 2 is codenamed Project Iron Wolf. It will probably be some time before we get a solid confirmation that this is indeed the case, but for now it seems like a strong theory. Stay tuned for more news about Black Ops 2 and the Call of Duty franchise!

Recently David Vonderhaar, one of the Treyarch developers who worked on Call of Duty: Black Ops, stated that he regretted the inclusion of the “Second Chance” feature in the game. Second Chance is a feature which allows a downed player to shoot with a pistol for an additional ten seconds in multiplayer mode before actually dying. Vonderhaar stated that they probably won’t be including Second Chance in Black Ops 2 —which is a strong indication they’re working on it!

Have you been hearing that there could potentially be a Call of Duty Black Ops 2 coming out some time in 2012? Chances are you have already experienced the success of the first edition. Just imagine what you might find in the second edition. The fact of the matter is that the developer, Treyarch, is not completing ruling out the possibility that there could be a sequel on the way.

It’s no secret that the first edition, Call of Duty Black Ops which was released in November of 2009, has had it’s share of success in the gaming industry with over 13 millions copies of the game sold world wide. The coming of a second edition would place it into a category much like that of the Modern Warfare series. After the huge success that has been experienced with the first release, it would only make sense to go ahead and develop a second, Black Ops 2.

For those who really like to dig deep and find clues as to whether or not there may be a sequel on the way, you will find that there are a number of them hidden within the first release of Black Ops. Whether or not these are a indicative of an upcoming release may be complete speculation, but you certainly cannot rule out the possibility as the games creators have stated.

Some of the clues that you might notice in the first release include the memo or email found on Mason’s computer which is dated July 4, 1978, the note from an anonymous informant that also gives clues about sequel type action that takes place in 1970, and various others.

Based on the success of the first release and the amount of popularity that it has been able to stir up around the world, it would seem that second release, Call of Duty Black Ops 2 is almost a given. Unfortunately this has not yet be set in stone so those who are anxiously awaiting the next wave of action will just have to be patient and wait a little longer for the news that they want to hear.

How about you? Do you think there will be a release of Black Ops 2 in 2012? How successful do you think a sequel to the original will be? Many feel that the questions isn’t IF a new release is going to be announced, but WHEN a new released is going to be announced.